LUDHIANA/BATHINDA, June 21 — The Cyber Crime Division of the Punjab Police has taken down 106 social media accounts that supported the killing of social media influencer Kamal Kaur, citing their potential to incite communal tension and disrupt public order, officials confirmed on Saturday.
The crackdown follows reports submitted by district police units monitoring online activity in the aftermath of the June 11 murder, in which the 27-year-old influencer, popularly known as “Kamal Kaur Bhabhi”, was found strangled in a parked car near Adesh University in Bathinda.
Police say the murder was premeditated and carried out by members of a radical vigilante group, Qaum De Rakhe, led by Amritpal Singh Mehron, who fled to the United Arab Emirates hours after the crime. Two of his associates, Jaspreet Singh and Nimratjit Singh, have since been arrested.
“Several of these accounts amplified justifications for the murder and posted content aimed at glorifying the killers,” a senior Punjab Police official said. “Given the potential for communal unrest, we treated this as a serious internal security concern.”
Kaur had been lured from Ludhiana under the pretext of a promotional event and allegedly killed for sharing what the fringe group considered “vulgar” content online. Mehron, police say, was present at the scene, where he forced Kaur to reveal her phone passwords before killing her.
Authorities say Mehron boarded a flight from Amritsar on June 10, less than 24 hours before Kaur’s body was discovered. A look-out circular has been issued and the Punjab Police are preparing an extradition request to bring him back from the UAE.
Mehron has a documented history of vigilantism: he was booked in 2021 for threatening a music producer over lyrics he called obscene, and in 2020 for vandalising Punjabi folk dancer statues near the Golden Temple.
Kaur’s murder has sent shockwaves across Punjab’s digital creator community. Influencers such as Deepika Luthra, Simarjeet Kaur (Preet Jatti), and Chand Singh (Jatt Babe Bandra To) have since reported death threats from extremist elements.
Luthra, after receiving threats from Babbar Khalsa International, has deleted her Instagram account and is now under police protection. Singh has publicly apologised for his past content and now moves with armed aides.
Police officials say the threats are being taken seriously. “We are now treating such threats not just as criminal acts but as matters of internal security,” said an officer involved in the investigation. “Legal action is being pursued under the Information Technology Act and related laws.”
The incident has spurred calls for tighter regulation and enhanced safety for content creators in India, as the digital space grows increasingly volatile in the face of ideological extremism.
