Self-proclaimed Punjabi singer Ranjit Singh Kahlon, also known as Ranjit Bath, has been accused of allegedly murdering the father of a Melbourne woman in India after being deported from Australia.
It is reported that Ranjit, along with his nephew Baljinder Singh alias Gulli, allegedly killed the 78-year-old man in the Dakha area of Ludhiana district in India’s Punjab state, and then dumped his body in roadside bushes.
The woman, Ms Kaur (name withheld to protect her identity), who lives in Melbourne, revealed that she met Ranjit through TikTok earlier this year, and they became friends.
Ranjit came to Australia in March 2024 to meet Ms Kaur and they started to catch up frequently, claimed Punjab Police. However soon he began pressuring her to divorce her husband and marry him. According to Ms Kaur, Ranjit allegedly threatened to kill her and her family in Punjab if she did not do so, reported Indian media.
After causing a scene outside her home in a Western suburb of Melbourne while intoxicated, Ms Kaur filed a complaint with the Victoria Police, leading to Ranjit’s deportation in June 2024.
He allegedly flew back to Australia in August 2024 but was deported from the Melbourne airport itself.
The incident came to light after Ms Kaur’s brother, Vikram Saggar, lodged a missing person report at the Dugri police station when his father, Ravinder Singh Paul, did not return home.
The victim’s body was later found on the morning of August 29 and identified at Civil Hospital. The FIR was registered at Mullanpur Dakha police station based on Vikram’s statement.
According to the FIR, on the night of August 25, Ranjit and Gulli went to the victim’s home in Dugri, where they strangled him and inflicted other injuries before disposing of his body in the bushes along GT Road at Pandori village.
Ranjit then allegedly sent a WhatsApp message to Ms Kaur, confessing to the crime and providing the location of the body.
Inspector Kulwinder Singh, SHO at Mullanpur Dakha police station, confirmed to the local media that Gulli has been arrested and has confessed to the murder. However, Ranjit remains at large, and a manhunt is underway to apprehend him.
The police have registered an FIR under sections 103 (1) (murder) and 3(5) (conspiracy to commit murder) of the BNS Act.
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