Ludhiana: In a brazen attack on Saturday evening, unidentified assailants gunned down 60-year-old Navtej Singh alias Neetu, the former sarpanch of Manewal village, near the Ladowal area of Ludhiana. The attackers, who arrived on a motorcycle, fired approximately ten rounds targeting Singh’s Toyota Innova as he was driving home.
The incident occurred around 6:25 PM on October 3 while Singh was returning to his residence in Krishna Nagar, Ghumar Mandi, after inspecting work on his 30–35 acre agricultural land in Manewal. As his vehicle turned from the Ladowal toll plaza toward the South City Road flyover, the bike-borne shooters ambushed him near the Punjab Food office. Although Singh was usually accompanied by his son, an advocate, he was traveling alone at the time of the assault.
The entire sequence of events was captured by the vehicle’s onboard dashboard camera. According to the footage provided to investigators by the victim’s family, two individuals on a motorcycle approached the car, circled around, and the pillion rider fired multiple rounds into the driver’s side at close range, shattering the window. Local residents rushed the grievously injured former sarpanch to DMC Hospital in his own vehicle, where attending doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
Family members suspect the murder stems from a long-standing property dispute with relatives and allege that contract killers may have been hired to carry out the fatal attack. Station House Officer (SHO) Sukhwinder Singh stated that police teams arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting, registered a case, and are actively analyzing the dashboard camera recording and nearby surveillance footage to identify the culprits. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination. Navtej Singh is survived by his wife, a son, and a married daughter.
