Ludhiana was shaken on Thursday after the dismembered body of Davinder Singh, aged around 30–36, was found dumped in an empty plot near the Jalandhar Bypass, making it the second such brutal murder reported in the city within a week.
The victim’s head was found stuffed inside a white plastic drum, while other body parts some of them burnt were scattered nearby. Davinder had returned from Mumbai earlier in the week and went missing shortly after leaving home to meet a friend.
Police have since booked his friend Shamsher Singh alias Shera and Shera’s wife, based on preliminary evidence and CCTV footage, and are probing possible motives and accomplices.
The incident has heightened fear among residents, especially as another charred and dismembered body found earlier this week in Ludhiana’s Meharban area remains unidentified.
A Brutal Crime and a Family’s Grief
The horrifying discovery came to light when a passerby noticed a suspicious white plastic drum lying in an empty plot near a private school under the Salem Tabri police station area and informed the authorities.
Upon inspection, police found the severed head of the victim inside the drum, while other body parts, reportedly chopped into multiple pieces, were found dumped nearby. Some remains bore signs of burning, suggesting an attempt to destroy evidence.
The deceased was later identified as Davinder Singh, a resident of Bhora village, who had returned home from Mumbai just two days earlier. According to his uncle, Charan Das, Davinder had arrived on Tuesday but left within minutes, saying he was going to meet a friend.
When he failed to return and could not be contacted, the family lodged a missing persons complaint on Wednesday, unaware that a far grimmer fate awaited confirmation.
Police officials said forensic teams were immediately deployed, and the crime scene was cordoned off to collect evidence. “We are examining CCTV footage from nearby areas and questioning several individuals. The body was brutally mutilated, indicating a serious and premeditated crime,” a senior police officer stated.
The victim is survived by his wife and a differently abled daughter, a detail that has further deepened public empathy and outrage over the crime.
Arrests, Investigation, and a Disturbing Pattern
As investigations progressed, police registered a case of murder and named Shamsher Singh alias Shera identified as the friend Davinder went to meet and Shera’s wife, Kuldeep Kaur, as accused, along with unidentified accomplices.
Preliminary findings and CCTV footage reportedly show suspects transporting the plastic drum to the dumping site late at night, strengthening police suspicion of their involvement. Officials said more arrests could follow as interrogation continues.
This case has drawn even greater concern because it follows another similarly gruesome incident earlier in the same week. In the Meharban area of Ludhiana, police recovered a charred body cut into two parts from an empty plot, with no burn marks at the site itself.
This led investigators to suspect that the victim may have been murdered elsewhere and the body later dumped to mislead authorities. That victim has not yet been identified, and post-mortem reports are awaited.
Law enforcement officials have not officially confirmed whether the two cases are connected, but they acknowledged that the proximity in time and nature of the crimes has prompted a wider review of violent crime patterns in the city.
Additional patrols have been ordered in vulnerable areas, and local police stations have been instructed to intensify surveillance. Residents, meanwhile, have expressed fear and anger, with many questioning how such extreme violence could occur in residential zones without immediate detection.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The brutality of these crimes is not just a failure of law and order; it is a stark reminder of how fragile human dignity can become in the absence of empathy, accountability, and social cohesion. When bodies are mutilated and discarded, the violence extends far beyond the victim it traumatises families, scars communities, and normalises cruelty if left unchallenged.
While it is essential that the police pursue swift, transparent, and thorough investigations to ensure justice for Davinder Singh and the unidentified victim, society must also look inward.
Violence does not emerge in isolation; it is often rooted in unresolved conflicts, economic stress, substance abuse, or a breakdown in communication and trust. Preventing such crimes requires more than arrests it calls for community vigilance, mental health support, responsive policing, and spaces for dialogue before disputes turn deadly.
