6 months, 4 slain Punjab police officers, and a supply chain police can’t crack

In the past six months, four Punjab Police officers have been shot dead, leaving one injured according to a covert threat targeting law enforcers in Punjab. Suspected handlers, believed to be based in Pakistan, are allegedly supplying weapons to local drug addicts and unemployed individuals, who carry out the attacks in exchange for financial gain.

The first incident occurred on February 22 when Assistant Sub-Inspector Gurnam Singh and Home Guard Ashok Kumar were shot dead in Gurdaspur, just a kilometer from the India-Pakistan border. Police initially implicated Pakistan's ISI, but later stated there was no evidence against any suspects. By June 8, they dropped charges against one of the suspects, accusing him of terror financing.

On May 24, ASI Joga Singh, a long-serving traffic officer, was killed on the Fatehgarh Churian–Majitha road, with a group claiming responsibility via a video release. Three months later, on September 11, ASI Jaswant Singh was injured in an attack near Bhalla Pind. Karan, the alleged shooter, escaped from custody during his transfer.

Most recently, ASI Harjeet Singh was killed on September 18 while on night patrol in Amritsar's Dana Mandi area. Police claim they neutralized a suspect, but his accomplice escaped. Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav asserts that Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan is not a conventional organization but a brand name used by Pakistan-based handlers for local recruits.

These handlers allegedly operate through a supply chain originally built for heroin smuggling, now repurposed for weapons.