Handcuffed inmate attacks cop with knife and is shot dead during escape attempt in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India.

NEWS:

A handcuffed inmate attacked a police constable with a knife while trying to escape custody outside a hospital in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India, on May 16, 2026, before the officer shot him during the violent struggle.

The confrontation was captured on video. The footage shows the inmate and Senior Constable Jasdeep Singh engaged in a violent physical fight after the inmate attacks the officer. Their struggle moves away from an e-rickshaw and onto the ground, where the confrontation continues before gunfire is heard and the inmate is ultimately incapacitated.

The inmate was identified by police as Naseeb Singh, whose first name was also rendered as Nasib in some initial reports. He had been brought from Central Jail, Hoshiarpur, to the Civil Hospital with two other inmates for routine medical examinations. Four police personnel were assigned to escort the three prisoners, according to Senior Superintendent of Police Sandeep Kumar Malik.

The incident occurred at about 00:1:30 p.m. as the prisoners were being taken back after their examinations. Jasdeep Singh was accompanying Naseeb Singh in an e-rickshaw toward an ambulance used for the return trip to jail.

Police said Naseeb attempted to escape while still restrained and attacked Jasdeep with a sharp-edged weapon. Later accounts identified the weapon as a knife. Jasdeep suffered injuries to his face, arm or hand, and leg during the assault.

In a later account given while he was still recovering, Jasdeep said the attack began within seconds of Naseeb being seated in the e-rickshaw. He said the inmate struck him in the forehead with the knife and continued attacking his face, arm and knee as the constable maintained his hold on the restraint connecting him to the prisoner.

Jasdeep said he had chosen the e-rickshaw because the ambulance was roughly 100 meters away and he suffers from asthma. He said the inmate continued stabbing him as he tried to prevent the escape and that several of the wounds were deep enough to require continued treatment.

Police said Naseeb also tried to seize Jasdeep's service revolver during the struggle. The officer's later account similarly described the two men grappling over the gun after they ended up on the ground.

SSP Malik said Jasdeep initially fired a warning shot toward the ground in an attempt to stop the inmate. When the confrontation continued and Naseeb again tried to obtain control of the revolver, the constable fired additional rounds in self-defense and to prevent the escape, according to the police account.

Jasdeep later said warning shots were directed toward the ground and that two bullets ultimately struck Naseeb, one in the chest and another in the arm. That description came from the injured officer and was not presented as an independent forensic finding.

Initial police accounts said Naseeb was taken to the Civil Hospital after being shot and later died from his injuries. Subsequent reporting based on hospital information described him as having been brought to the emergency department dead or pronounced dead on arrival. The available accounts therefore differ on whether he still had vital signs when he reached medical personnel, although all agree that he died from the gunshot injuries sustained during the confrontation.

Jasdeep was hospitalized with multiple knife wounds and was reported to be out of danger. He was later referred to a private hospital in Tanda for further treatment. When he spoke publicly about the incident on May 27, some of the wounds to his knee and upper arm were still healing.

Police said Naseeb had seven criminal cases registered against him, including cases involving murder, attempted murder and offenses under India's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Authorities described him as both a convict and an undertrial in separate cases.

The discovery that Naseeb had a knife while under police escort became a central issue in the investigation. Police initially said investigators would determine whether he had obtained the weapon outside the jail or received assistance from another person.

A Special Investigation Team was subsequently formed to examine the incident and determine how the inmate acquired the weapon while in custody.

Jasdeep later said he believed the knife may have already been in the prisoner's possession when jail authorities handed him over to the escort team. He said Naseeb remained under observation during the trip and that nobody approached him at the hospital. That was the constable's assessment, however, not an established investigative finding.

As of August 14, no publicly reported finding located during follow-up reporting had established how the knife reached Naseeb or announced a final conclusion from the SIT on that question.

News story written by DarkGore.

For more on this case:

If you want to know more about this case, just visit the following URL: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/jalandhar/handcuffed-inmate-attacks-cop-tries-to-flee-in-punjabs-hoshiarpur-shot-dead/