In a video message posted by Mehron after Kanchan Kumari’s killing, he seemed to justify the act, saying she had been “warned” several times but she continued to post “immoral and vulgar content” on social media. He added that her content defamed Sikh values and mocked her use of the surname “Kaur”.
He also warned others creating “objectionable content” to refrain from such activities.
“So what if she was killed? It’s a good thing that she was. Actually, it happened late. She should’ve been killed off five to seven years ago,” Mehron said in a video statement where he is dressed in the traditional attire of the Nihang sect.
“I don’t care if I’m right or wrong. I have to save a generation of Punjabis,” Mehron says in the video. “If I see another such video made on Punjab’s land… then see.”
However, he did not take responsibility for the killing. In an interview with a YouTube channel, while on the run this week, Mehron said he had not taken responsibility for the murder and the killing remained a matter of investigation. He, however, reiterated that he would continue to “clean up” Punjab. “I will do this clean-up before I am arrested. If I have to stay in jail for five-six years, I will make it worth it,” he said.
Also Read: Fear grips Punjab influencers after extremists kill Kamal Kaur. ‘Dark days of 1984’
Who is Amritpal Singh Mehron
The question that many are now asking is: Who is Amritpal Singh Mehron?
His father, Baljinder Singh, a Muslim who converted to Sikhism, told mediapersons they were a poor family living in Mehron village. He said he had worked as a daily wager for years before becoming a construction contractor. Mehron is the youngest of five children. His three elder sisters are married.
“I travel almost 20 km every day for work. We have worked hard to earn a living. We don’t touch a penny of the money that Amritpal has,” said Mehron’s father.
Although Mehron refers to himself as “illiterate” in his social media videos, he completed his class XII education from DM College, Moga, and has a diploma in diesel mechanics from ITI, Moga.
He considered slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale as his idol and some years ago, he donned the attire and lifestyle of a Nihang Sikh, carrying traditional weapons.
Although he projected himself as a good Samaritan out to clean up Punjab society, some say he’s just a self-styled vigilante looking to grab attention and social media eyeballs.
Over the past four years, he fashioned himself as a religious radical and built a massive social media following along the way with violent threats to supposedly protect social and Sikh values. His targets included influencers, suspected quacks and a dera head, whom he accused of moral, religious or sexual transgressions. He often recorded his encounters with them and shared them on his now-closed social media accounts.
Mehron operated two Instagram accounts with 351,000 and 398,000 followers, respectively, and regularly posted videos condemning what he calls “obscene” content. Police shut down his social media accounts last week.
He had such a large following that in April this year, singer Sharan Sidhu even released a musical video titled ‘Mehron’ featuring Mehron’s life and success. Mehron is seen in the video driving a jeep, wielding automatic weapons.
Mehron was often moving around in SUVs and had his own security guards.
His success led him to even try his hand at politics about three years ago. In March 2022, he contested the Punjab assembly polls from Tarn Taran seat as a candidate of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) headed by Simranjit Singh Mann. However, he lost the election after securing just a little over 6,000 votes.
Still, his vigilante activities continued, with help through crowdfunding.
A divided community
The Sikh community appears to be divided on Mehron.
Some radical Sikh bodies have come out in support of him. Independent MP from Faridkot, Sarabjeet Singh, visited Mehron’s house to show solidarity with his family.
The family of jailed radical Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh met Mehron’s father last week to extend help. The head granthi of the Golden Temple, Malkiat Singh, also supported Mehron’s actions.
However, many other radical Sikhs, including prominent Nihangs, denounced Mehron’s action. Nihang leader Harjeet Singh Rasulpur criticised Mehron for blackmailing people and his alleged role in the murder of Kanchan Kumari.
“If anyone is feeling threatened by Mehron, they are free to approach me and I will stand by them. It is a shame that Mehron is donning the dress of a Nihang and using it to issue threats and kill. Why are Mehron and his men even watching this kind of content? If somebody wants to show their own character through their social media posts, what is Mehron’s business in it?” he said.
Another Sikh leader, Giani Buta Singh, alleged that Mehron and his men forced Kanchan Kumari to share her phone’s passwords and took away her phone before killing her. He alleged that her phone held “secrets” which could have harmed Mehron.
Also Read: Pakistani gangster voices ‘support’ for Kamal Kaur Bhabhi murder accused, ‘because I too am Punjabi’
Mehron’s rap sheet
Mehron’s transformation into a religious vigilante wasn’t sudden.
He first shot into the limelight in January 2020 for vandalising the statues depicting folk dances of Punjab on the Heritage Street leading to the Golden Temple. The statues had been built by the Punjab tourism department to showcase the state’s culture among tourists visiting the Golden Temple. Mehron’s group, however, claimed that a show of dance and entertainment on the way to the temple dishonoured the Sikh religion.
He, along with nine other associates, was arrested.
The then chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, asked the state police to review the stringent sections imposed against the nine accused after Sikh groups came out in support of Mehron and his associates. Mehron and the others were discharged in the case in 2023.
In September 2021, Mehron was booked on the complaint of a male influencer who goes by the Instagram handle @producerdxx, whom Mehron had allegedly beaten up at his home in Dhanaula in Barnala. Mehron claimed that the influencer was spreading “vulgarity and immorality” through his videos.
The influencer was saved by villagers who rushed to support him against Mehron. Producer Dxx alleged that he was first threatened by Mehron in 2019 and he paid him Rs 70,000.
“Now he was demanding Rs 2 lakh and I refused to pay him,” said Producer Dxx after Mehron came to beat him up. He added that Mehron snatched his phone and also Rs 17,000 from his house.
Mehron, who was arrested and later let off on bail, denied charges of blackmail but admitted he had beaten up the producer.
The next year, he claimed to have issued a warning to comedian Bharti Singh, who, according to him, had insulted the Sikh religion by making fun of the moustache and beard kept by Sikh men.
Bharti issued a video message apologising for what she had said, adding that she had no intention of hurting religious sentiments. Mehron put out her apology on his social media handles, projecting it as his achievement.
Gurinder Singh Dhillon, a former Punjab Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), said vigilantism must be curbed.
“It is not as simple as Mehron getting angry about Kanchan Kumari’s videos. It is part of a larger setup. When I was ADGP law and order, I had arrested such persons indulging in criminal activities in the name of religious vigilantism,” said Dhillon.
“There is no doubt that some influencers are spreading nudity and vulgarity. Such persons need to be condemned. They need to be called out and acted against according to the law under the IT Act. But at the same time, people like Mehron were using social media to hand out death threats and openly call for violence. Such threats, leading to taking the law into their own hands, also need to be curbed. What Mehron did is more condemnable,” he added.
However, not all cases involving Mehron involved allegations of moral policing.
After setting up Kaum de Rakhe in 2020, Mehron and his group shared a mobile number on social media and offered to help people 24/7.
To begin with, his group claimed it was helping mediate family disputes at the request of local villagers. They claimed they stopped two brothers from dividing their house, and rescued a 13-year-old girl from her paternal uncle and aunt, who allegedly tortured her.
They travelled to Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, where they said they rescued an old man forced to work as a bonded labourer. They also claimed to have helped a family rebuild their house following a fire.
In another case, Mehron claimed to have rescued an old woman from her sons, who allegedly beat her up. He also complained to the police to take action against a young man seen in a viral video allegedly touching a girl child inappropriately in the village of Bhinder Kalan in Moga.
But soon the group also turned to religious vigilantism.
In August 2021, Mehron and his associates broke wall tiles with pictures of Hindu gods and Sikh gurus in a commercial building in Sector 22, Chandigarh. The tiles had been put to deter passersby from urinating against the wall.
In a separate incident, Mehron and his group “raided” a gurdwara in a town in Rajasthan, removing Sikh religious texts they claimed were being desecrated.
All these activities were recorded and shared on Mehron’s social media handles. As his following increased, he started seeking donations, claiming the funds would be used to build houses for the poor and assist caregivers of children with special needs.
In one video, he documented a visit to poor Sikh families in Madhya Pradesh, saying he was assessing their living conditions.
Mehron also shared videos of his group indulging in violence, claiming to deliver instant punishment. For instance, he and his group claimed to have “taught a lesson” to a young man whom they alleged was blackmailing a girl into having a relationship with him. They released a video of them beating up the man.
His group also claimed to have caught a person they said generated fake online IDs and indulged in inappropriate activities with women.
In one post, he claimed that his men had beaten up a Ludhiana-based Shiv Sena leader for speaking against Bhindranwale. In another video, he claimed to have beaten up a resident of Uttarakhand who was faking Mehron’s identity on social media.
Apart from the first case of vandalism of statues in Amritsar, Mehron’s violent activities and open threats were ignored by Punjab police.
An emboldened Mehron then graduated from traditional weapons to flaunting automatic weapons. However, it is not known if they were licensed. In one video, he claimed he was facing cases under the Arms Act for flaunting weapons openly.
In many cases, though Mehron issued threats of violence, he took no physical action and his actions seemed aimed at drawing attention.
On one occasion, he claimed to have travelled to Balram Nagar in Uttarakhand to confront the organisers of a young woman’s dance performance in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib on the occasion of Janmashtami. He claimed he wanted to“teach the organisers a lesson”, but on his return, he said he let them off after they apologised.
In another instance, in February 2022, Mehron and his men went to Delhi claiming to support the family of a 20-year-old victim who was allegedly abducted, gangraped and later paraded on the streets. After meeting the family, they wrote on the wall of the victim’s house in Punjabi: “The Sikh community is alive. It will take revenge in this case”.
Mehron was booked for issuing a threat, but on social media, he projected his visit to the Delhi police station as an achievement. He never went on to do anything to the criminals as promised to the victim’s family.
Last year, Mehron accused Baba Baljinder Singh, head of the Thaah Charan Ghat gurdwara, of allegedly sexually exploiting women followers. He released a video showing his interrogation of the alleged victim and the baba about his alleged sexual abuse.
Baljinder Singh was subsequently booked for rape and arrested. However, the victim turned against Mehron and alleged he had pressured her to falsely implicate Singh.
Despite having criticised the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for years, Mehron rushed to seek its protection, addressing his supporters jointly with SGPC officials, calling for police action against the victim as well.
Earlier this year, he turned his attention to “vaids”, or self-styled medical practitioners, who sold medicines they claimed treated sexual dysfunctions. He shared pictures of their advertisements on social media. Some of these vaids later met Mehron and issued apologies, which he videographed and put on his social media accounts.
Mehron also claimed he had made Amritsar-based influencer Deepika Luthra apologise for creating what he called vulgar content. Luthra told police last week that Mehron threatened her repeatedly. She was provided security and a fresh case was registered against Mehron.
Luthra told police that she was called by Mehron and his men for a promotional video, and was then waylaid on a village road. She alleged that she was forced to apologise, after which she stopped posting such content. Mehron posted the video of the meeting and the apology on his social media, portraying it as a personal achievement.
Last month, Mehron specially went to meet to extend support to Himanshi Narwal, the widow of a naval officer killed by terrorists in Pahalgam.
‘Custodians of morality’
Historians and political scientists say vigilantes like Mehron are not a new phenomenon.
Dr Harjeshwar Pal Singh of the Department of History, SGGS College Sector 26, Chandigarh, says such socio-religious vigilantes have been part of society for a long time.
“Indian and Punjabi society is deeply conservative, religious and has traditionally been stronger than the state. Vigilantes like Nihangs, Shiv Sainiks, khap panchayats, society uncles, etc, have often acted as custodians of morality and society and acted against women, drugs, minorities and vulgarity,” he told ThePrint.
“Respect for the law, democratic norms and tolerance for alternative lifestyles has been slow among these groups. Many such vigilantes have been patronised by political groups. The rise of social media, religious polarisation, economic inequality and changing societal norms has only deepened social anxiety and concern about issues of vulgarity and led to the rise of vigilantes like Mehron, whose pages are followed by lakhs. Platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp help vigilante groups mobilise support, name and shame targets, and create parallel moral courts,” he added.
Viral videos of moral policing or “religious protection” gain approval and embolden others, he said.
Dr Kanwalpreet Kaur of the department of political science, DAV College Sector 10, Chandigarh, says nudity and vulgarity has existed in Punjab through songs and dances played at weddings for decades. “Families, including women and children attending these weddings, enjoying this music, and youth dancing to such numbers, do not have a shock value. Influencers are mouthing these songs, adding their own lewd acts to them. And what about the lakhs who follow them? The influencers are serving what is being bought.
“However, the emergence of the so-called vigilantes is new. They are working either for an unseen behind-the-curtain agent or for the glory and money earned through social media. These vigilantes should not be allowed to become keepers of the collective conscience of a healthy, inclusive, progressive society.”
Adding, “The quality of content available on social media needs to be regulated, restricting adult content. But people like Mehron should also be taken to task by the law.”
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
Also Read: Kanchan Kumari was killed for giving men what they want. And that’s the real obscenity
