SAA event in Punjab, Tarn Taran District area, India on Tue 6th October 2026

An Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sarpanch (village head) of Toot village in Patti, identified as Ashwani Kumar, was shot dead in broad daylight by three unidentified assailants, in Tarn Taran District on October 6, reports The Tribune. His driver, Chamkaur Singh, was seriously injured in the attack. The attackers intercepted their vehicle while Kumar along with his driver, son and an associate were travelling to the village grain market and fled after opening fire. Patti Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ravi Sher Singh said that Police are examining CCTV footage to identify and apprehend the assailants.|Separately, two days after Government Railway Police Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Sukhchain Singh was shot at in Ajnala, Amritsar District, on October 4, the obscure outfit ‘Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan’ (TTH) claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media poster on October 6, reports The Tribune. Police said the claim could not yet be authenticated. The same group has previously claimed attacks on police personnel. Amritsar Rural Police are investigating possible motives, including a targeted attack and personal enmity. Singh told investigators that his brother was murdered in 2020 and that he had been pursuing the case, which is currently at the witness-recording stage. Police are examining whether the shooting was linked to the earlier murder.Nevertheless, police have not ruled out the possibility of a targeted attack.