With no official database tracking crimes against NRIs, incidents of shootings, property fraud, and street crimes highlight vulnerabilities among visiting overseas Indians. Family disputes, property disputes, and retaliation motives often underlie these attacks, not random targeting.
In recent years, a growing number of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) visiting or connected to Punjab have become targets of crime, ranging from violent attacks to organized property fraud. While there is no official government database publicly available that tracks all NRIs visiting Punjab and separately counts those who were targeted, multiple incidents reported by police and the media indicate a disturbing pattern in which NRIs—especially those returning temporarily from abroad—are increasingly vulnerable. Most police and crime data are not broken down by “NRI status” in public reporting, so estimates of the scope of this issue rely heavily on media investigations and selective cases. Many incidents involve family disputes, property disputes, or retaliation motives, and are not always random targeting solely because the person was an NRI.
Several violent attacks on visiting NRIs have been documented over the last few years. In August 2024, a US-based NRI, Sukhchain Singh, was shot at inside his farmhouse near Amritsar in a personal dispute linked to relatives abroad. He survived after being hospitalized, and the assailants were arrested. In November 2024, police in Amritsar arrested a snatcher who had targeted two visiting NRIs—one from the UK and another from Mauritius—in separate street crime incidents, one of which caused injury. These cases illustrate how NRIs can be perceived as “soft targets” due to their unfamiliarity with local crime environments.
In 2025, several high-profile incidents highlighted both violent and financial targeting of NRIs. In July 2025, Punjab Police registered FIRs against five people for grabbing and forging property documents belonging to elderly NRIs in Jalandhar, involving land worth crores. Later that year, Italy-based NRI Malkit Singh was shot dead in Amritsar, allegedly by individuals linked to organized criminal networks, indicating a risk from high-profile gang involvement. In December 2025, another NRI returning from the US shot his nephew dead in a bitter land dispute in Moga district. These incidents underscore that family disputes, property conflicts, and retaliation motives often drive violence, not mere overseas status.
The pattern continued into 2026, with the targeted killing of NRI woman Hempreet Kaur in Kapurthala district in January by motorcycle-borne assailants. A few days later, an NRI woman visiting from Austria was found murdered in a hotel in Amritsar, highlighting how visiting NRIs remain vulnerable to both personal and opportunistic attacks.
Beyond physical violence, property fraud and land-grabbing scams remain widespread. Courts and police authorities have repeatedly flagged that absentee NRI property owners are easy targets for forged sales deeds, illegal कब्ज़ा (encroachment), and impersonation. In districts such as Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, and Ludhiana, FIRs have been registered by NRIs from the US, UK, and Canada whose land was illegally sold or occupied. High Courts have also expressed concern about this trend, calling it a serious systemic failure.
It is important to clarify that while some NRIs appear in police records as accused persons—for example, over 600 NRIs are reportedly on Punjab Police wanted lists for offences such as fraud or marital disputes—this data is often misused to deflect attention from the fact that NRIs are also significant victims of crime. Being an accused and being a targeted victim are two entirely different issues, and conflating the two distorts the real problem.
Across these years, patterns have emerged: violence often arises from family or property disputes rather than random targeting; NRIs are repeatedly victimized through fraud, property grabbing, and organized criminal plots; and opportunistic street crimes also remain a concern. The lack of an official crime-tracking mechanism for NRIs means that public awareness and reporting rely largely on media coverage and selective case studies.
In summary, although exact numbers are unavailable, available evidence confirms that NRIs visiting Punjab have been killed, injured, robbed, and systematically defrauded in recent years. At least one confirmed targeted killing of a visiting NRI was reported in early 2026, with multiple other serious attacks and numerous fraud cases documented since 2020. The absence of dedicated tracking, combined with delayed investigations and weak preventive measures, continues to leave visiting NRIs exposed and vulnerable. Estimates of the scale of these crimes must therefore rely on media reports and case studies, rather than comprehensive official data.n summary, although exact numbers are unavailable, available evidence confirms that NRIs visiting Punjab have been killed, injured, robbed, and systematically defrauded in recent years. At least one confirmed targeted killing of a visiting NRI was reported in early 2026, with multiple other serious attacks and numerous fraud cases documented since 2020. The absence of a dedicated NRI crime-tracking mechanism, combined with delayed investigations and weak preventive measures, continues to leave visiting NRIs exposed and vulnerable. Estimates of the scale of these crimes must therefore rely on media reports and case studies, rather than comprehensive official data.