Who is Inder Kaur: The singer who silenced herself for a man who would kill her? Will Canada deliver her killer?
Punjabi singer Inder Kaur, who gave up a decade-long music career for a man who allegedly killed her, was found dead in Ludhiana’s Neelon Canal. Apart from Inder Kaur murder, North Desk explains who she was — and what the 1987 India-Canada extradition treaty means for bringing accused Sukhwinder Singh to justice.
North Desk Correspondent
Chandigarh, May 23
She had nearly 50 songs to her name. She had sung alongside Gippy Grewal and Bunty Bains. She had built a following of over 250,000 people on Facebook and begun her career at 18. Then, five years ago, Yashinder Kaur, known to the Punjabi music world as Inder Kaur, met a man on Instagram. And she stopped singing altogether.
On May 19, her decomposed body was recovered from the Neelon Canal in Ludhiana’s Samrala area, six days after she was allegedly abducted at gunpoint. The man police claim killed her — Sukhwinder Singh alias Sukhi Brar, a resident of Bhaloor village in Moga district — is believed to be in Canada, where he had been living. The Punjab Police have now issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) for him, and India’s extradition treaty with Canada may be the only legal instrument left to bring him to trial.
Who was Inder Kaur?
Born in 1997, Yashinder Kaur alias Inder Kaur was a Ludhiana-based singer and makeup artist who had carved out a genuine place in Punjabi popular music over nearly a decade. Her discography included songs such as Afghan Jatti, Sohna Lagda, Laanedaarni, Desi Sirre De, Sone Di Wang, Kisaan Anthem, Aakad and Kado Ti Milegi — tracks that gave her a loyal audience and millions of YouTube views. She had collaborated with some of the bigger names in Punjabi music, including Gippy Grewal and Bunty Bains. On Instagram, she maintained a following of over 124,000 people.
Then, around five years ago, she connected with Sukhwinder Singh on Instagram. What followed, according to her family, was a relationship that consumed her professional life entirely.
“She left her singing career because of him. She confined herself to the house. She stopped singing. And then he killed her. She gave up everything, her career, for this man, but he betrayed her,” her cousin Maninderpal Singh told The Indian Express.
What Inder Kaur apparently did not know for much of the relationship was that Sukhwinder Singh was already married and had two children in Canada. When she eventually discovered this and ended the relationship, refusing his pressure to marry him, police say he decided to travel to India to kill her.
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Inder Kaur murder: What happened on the night of May 13
Inder Kaur murder: Police sources say that Inder Kaur left her home in Ludhiana’s Mundian area on the evening of May 13, driving her white Ford Figo, reportedly to buy groceries. She did not return. Her family, suspecting Sukhwinder, approached police and an FIR was registered at Jamalpur Police Station on May 15 — naming Sukhwinder Singh and his associate Karamjit Singh.
A police official said that Sukhwinder shot Inder dead using a pistol. Two weapons — a 30-bore and a 45-bore — were subsequently recovered from his accomplices. Her body and the suspects’ car were found in the Neelon Canal near a toll plaza on May 19. The post-mortem confirmed she died from two gunshot wounds — one to the right side of the chest, another entering through the temporal region and lodging in the forehead.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the case: Sukhwinder’s father Pritam Singh, and two friends — Karamjit Singh and Ravinder Singh. Sukhwinder Singh himself, police say, fled to Canada.
Here is where the case takes a turn that goes beyond a Punjab crime story.
The Nepal route — and what it tells us
Investigators believe Sukhwinder did not fly directly from Canada to India. He allegedly travelled via Nepal to enter India, and used the same route to flee after the crime. This is a significant detail. It suggests the Inder Kaur murder was not impulsive — it was planned, including the method of avoiding a direct travel trail between Canada and India. It also means that establishing his current whereabouts with certainty — a prerequisite for any extradition request — will require coordination across three jurisdictions.
The LOC — and its limits
The Lookout Circular issued by the Police — like it has been done in Inder Kaur murder case– is a domestic instrument. It alerts Indian immigration authorities to detain Sukhwinder if he attempts to enter India. It has no legal force in Canada and cannot compel any action by Canadian authorities. For that, India needs to invoke the extradition treaty.
What 1987 India-Canada Extradition Treaty actually says
India and Canada signed an Extradition Treaty in New Delhi in 1987. The treaty is operative. Under Article 1, each country agrees to extradite persons accused of offences punishable by more than one year’s imprisonment in both countries. Murder, kidnapping and the use of firearms are explicitly listed under Article 5(3) as non-political offences — meaning Sukhwinder cannot claim political grounds to resist extradition.
The treaty sets out a clear process. India must file a formal extradition request through diplomatic channels — from the Ministry of External Affairs to the Canadian Department of Justice, via the Indian High Commission in Ottawa. The request must be supported by an arrest warrant, evidence establishing his identity and the facts of the case, and a statement of applicable law and punishment. Canada can also be asked for a provisional arrest in urgent cases under Article 11, which allows the request to be routed directly between the two justice ministries or through Interpol — a faster mechanism that does not require the full diplomatic dossier upfront.
Critically, under Article 6, extradition may be refused if the offence carries the death penalty in the requesting state but not in the requested state. India’s Section 302 (murder under IPC/BNS) can carry the death penalty. Canada has abolished capital punishment. This means India would likely need to provide Canada with an assurance that the death penalty, if imposed, will not be executed.
The diplomatic context: Better than it looks
For much of 2023 and 2024, India-Canada relations were in deep freeze following the Nijjar assassination row. Extradition cooperation, already slow by nature, was further complicated by that bilateral chill. However, since Justin Trudeau’s departure and Mark Carney’s election as Prime Minister, there are visible signs of a reset. Both sides have signalled interest in restoring normalcy to what is an important bilateral relationship, particularly given the size of the Punjabi diaspora in Canada and the economic ties between the two countries.
This matters for this case. A treaty that exists on paper is only useful when there is political will on both sides to use it. The improving diplomatic temperature makes a successful extradition request more plausible — though not certain, and not fast.
How long could this take?
Inder Kaur murder: The most instructive precedent is the Jassi Sidhu case. In 2000, Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu was murdered in Punjab on the alleged orders of her mother and uncle, both Canadian citizens. The extradition request from India was finally acted upon in Canada in 2012 — twelve years after the murder — and the two accused were brought to India only in 2018, eighteen years after the crime. That case, however, unfolded in a far more fractured diplomatic environment. Legal challenges in Canadian courts, changes in government on both sides, and questions of evidence all caused delays.
In Inder Kaur’s case, the investigation appears to have moved swiftly. Digital and location evidence has already been collected linking Sukhwinder to the conspiracy and the crime scene, according to ACP Inderjit Singh Boparai. If India files a formal extradition request promptly and the improving bilateral relationship holds, the timeline could be shorter. But “shorter” in extradition terms still likely means years, not months.
What justice looks like from here
Inder Kaur murder: For Inder Kaur’s family, the legal machinery of two nations now stands between them and accountability. Her cousin’s words — “she gave up everything, her career, for this man, but he betrayed her” — capture the particular cruelty of what happened. A woman who had built something real in the world silenced herself, withdrew from public life, and trusted someone who was deceiving her from the start. When she finally said no, he crossed continents to kill her.
The treaty is there. The diplomatic window is more open than it has been in years. Whether India’s government moves quickly enough in Inder Kaur murder case, and whether Canada’s legal process cooperates, will determine whether Sukhwinder Singh ever stands in an Indian court.
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