4 min readChandigarhMay 14, 2026 05:42 PM IST
As the body of Gurpreet Singh, the former Indian Army sepoy, who allegedly killed three people across Uttar Pradesh in a 48-hour spree before being shot dead in a police encounter, arrived in his village in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, the cremation was performed the same day, leaving behind a grieving and bewildered community.
Swarn Singh, the Sarpanch of Takhtu Chak and Gurpreet’s family friend, claimed that the deceased was a man whose violent end seemed entirely at odds with the quiet life he had lived in his village.
“There was no fight with anyone in the village until today. There was one cross-complaint FIR once, but even that was a family dispute, and it’s been 10 or 15 years, which has been settled long ago.”
Swarn Singh said Gurpreet served in the Indian Army for 25 years before returning to the village in 2021.
He lived with his wife and two children in a house just a few steps away from his brothers’ homes. The three brothers shared about 1.5 to 2 acres of agricultural land and remained on good terms.
Describing the months before the incident, the sarpanch said Gurpreet had been seeking work after his mother’s death in May 2025, briefly working as a private security officer before leaving for a job in Bihar.
On April 29, Gurpreet left home for Arrah in Bihar to take up a security guard job, and his father dropped him to see him off. “He left from here of his own will and was perfectly fine. He worked as a PSO (Personal Security Officer) for five or seven days, but it hadn’t worked out,” said Swarn Singh.
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Days later, when he called home to say the job had not worked out. His family’s response was simple: come back. According to him, Gurpreet kept in limited contact with his family after that, making occasional brief calls to his father before his phone went unreachable. “From what we know, he was a normal guy,” Swarn Singh said, adding that no warning signs had been noticed.
When asked whether Gurpreet had shown signs of depression, anger issues, or unusual behaviour before leaving, the sarpanch was firm. “No. From what we know, he was a normal guy. People do get upset sometimes; we all go through that in life.”
As for a motive behind the random killings that shocked the nation, Swarn Singh could offer nothing. “Nothing is coming to light.”
The sarpanch said the family is not seeking any probe into the encounter. “They are not asking for any investigation,” he said, adding, “He did some evil things and met his fate.”
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The police in UP’s Chandauli said Gurpreet told them during questioning that he was “disturbed and frustrated” and killed people randomly without any reason. He allegedly used his licensed weapons — a revolver and a sawed-off double-barreled gun — in all three attacks.
Back in Takhtu Chak, the sarpanch summed up the village’s collective confusion. “Overall, it remains a mystery as to why he did that,” said Swarn Singh.
He is survived by his wife and two children, who are left behind with little land and no steady income.
