Bhai Taru Singh lived with his mother and younger sister in village Pahoola and farmed his fields for a living. His father had died while he was still young. It had become a part of his life to speak with love, serve everyone who came to him, and help those in need.

One day, Rahim Bakhsh, a Muslim fisherman, stayed at his house to spend the night. Before going to bed, he talked to Bhai Taru Singh, "The Commander of Patti forcibly took away my daughter. When I complained to the Governor about him, he got me thrown out of the court. Nobody listens to the complaints of the poor in this regime." Bhai Taru Singh said to him, "Your complaint may not have been heeded by the Governor but it has been heard in the house of Guru Nanak. Your daughter will reach you in a few days."

After some days a jatha of Singhs passing that way, met Bhai Taru Singh. Bhai Taru Singh told them about the trouble of Rahim Bakhsh. The jatha raided Patti and restored his daughter to him. The Commander of Patti was killed in that raid. Khushala, the headman of village Pahoola, informed Zakria Khan, the Governor, the story behind this incident. The Governor sent soldiers to arrest Bhai Taru Singh. Bhai Taru Singh said to the soldiers who had come to arrest him, "You have come to take me away on the orders of your master. I, bound by the orders of my Master, cannot let you go without food." The soldiers were stumped at this unusual request but in the end acceded to it. After partaking Langar, they arrested him and presented him before the Governor.

Hoping that Bhai Taru Singh will help in arresting other Singhs if he embraces Islam, the Governor said to him, "All your sins can be pardoned if you become a Muslim and cut and give me those long hair of yours." Bhai Taru Singh refused pointblank to desert the Guru and embrace Islam. He was promised all kinds of rewards in this and the other world, but Bhai Taru Singh still refused to budge. The Governor was beside himself with rage. He got Bhai Taru Singh mounted on the death-wheels, a contraption used for torturing in medieval times, and subjected him to extreme torture. When Bhai Taru Singh still refused to bend before Governor's order, he ordered a cobbler to remove his scalp so that no hair may ever grow on his head again. After that he ordered him thrown in a ditch.

This inhumanity practiced by the governor on a man of such saintliness as Bhai Taru Singh seems to have affected Zakria Khan deeply. By the evening, he could not urinate. The pain he felt became unbearable. He felt that the pain he was experiencing was because of the pain to which he had subjected Bhai Taru Singh. When the court physician could not help cure the governor, he sent a messenger to the Dal Khalsa, seeking their forgiveness for all his cruel acts. According to the Sikh credo of "Welfare of His whole Creation" the Dal Khalsa sent the messenger back with the message that the Sikhs held nothing against the governor and left the final justice to Him. When he received this message, tears of remorse flowed down his cheeks and Zakria Khan felt his pain lessening.

After surviving for 22 days, the Governor died on the 1st of July, 1745 CE. Bhai Taru Singh gave up this mortal body after hearing about the death of the Governor.

A Gurdwara at Jagraon, in Ludhiana district, has been established to depict the suffering of such great Khalsa martyrs as Bhai Taru Singh through sculptures. These lifesize sculptures show various characters involved in such incidents depicting the glorious deeds of martyrs like Bhai Taru Singh.