BATHINDA: A village sarpanch was shot dead in a daylight attack at his private gym in Baghapurana town of Moga district on Friday morning, police said.Harwinder Singh alias Happy, 37 — the sarpanch of Patto Hira Singh village—was targeted as he arrived at his fitness centre, ‘Sujan Fitness Club’, on the Baghapurana-Kotkapura road.

According to eyewitnesses, Singh had just stepped out of his Mahindra Thar around 11am when three to four unidentified assailants in a Toyota Fortuner approached and opened fire. The attackers fled. Singh was rushed to the Baghapurana civil hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Moga senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ajay Gandhi said the attack appears to be the result of a personal rivalry. “We have identified the suspects and dispatched multiple teams to track them down,” SSP Gandhi said. “Based on our initial investigation, this is a case of personal enmity. We have found no gang-related angle at this stage, though the victim was facing half a dozen criminal cases.” Sources said Singh had been receiving threats for some time and had recently commissioned a bulletproof vehicle for protection. However, he was not using the vehicle at the time of the attack. Singh had been serving as sarpanch since winning as an independent candidate in Sept 2024. The case took a political turn as relatives of the deceased accused Baghapurana AAP MLA Amritpal Singh Sukhanand of threatening Singh. They alleged the MLA had warned Singh not to intervene in a marital dispute involving a local woman. The family has refused to allow a post-mortem until the MLA is named in the FIR. MLA Sukhanand rejected the allegations. He told TOI that he was only attempting to mediate a domestic dispute. “An AAP member’s wife had been in a live-in relationship with Singh without divorcing her husband. I held meetings with the couple to resolve this. There were prior altercations and police complaints regarding the matter,” the MLA said. “If anyone alleges my involvement in threats, let them come forward with proof,” he added. A murder case has been registered at the Baghapurana police station. Singh is the third sarpanch to be killed in Punjab in recent months. On Feb 18, AAP sarpanch Harbarinder Singh (40) was shot dead at a wedding in Tarn Taran. Earlier, on Jan 5, another AAP sarpanch, Jarmal Singh, was killed during a wedding ceremony at a resort in Amritsar.