Two more Nihang Sikh members were arrested by Haryana Police on Saturday in connection with the brutal murder of Dalit Sikh Lakhbir Singh making the total number of arrests in the case four. Earlier in the day, Nihang Sarabjit Singh was sent to seven-day police custody after being produced at the court of civil judge (junior division) Kinni Singla. Hours later, SSP Amritsar Rural Rakesh Kaushal said one more accused named Nihang Narayan Singh, who claims to be one among others who lynched Lakhbir Singh, was arrested from the city.
The police had demanded a 14-day remand of Sarabjit, citing the reason that the accused will be taken to Punjab’s Gurdaspur and Chamkaur Sahib to arrest four more accused named by him in the case. In the court, the police said the sword used to murder Lakhbir Singh is to be recovered. Lakhbir Singh was killed “mercilessly” as his body had 37 marks, police added.
Shock grips Cheema Kalan village in Punjab’s Taran Tarn a day after its resident Lakhbir was found lynched at the farmers’ protest site at the Singhu border in Haryana’s Sonipat. Sarabjit had surrendered late in the evening, taking responsibility for the murder.
Lakhbir was found dead, tied to the barricade with his left wrist and a foot partially severed, when a local police team reached the spot around 5 am on Friday. A Haryana police spokesperson said Kundli police station had received information that “the Nihangs had tied a person to a barricade”. An FIR stated that the large number of Nihang Sikhs present at the spot did not initially allow the police to remove the body and were also not coming out with information. The body was later shifted to the Civil Hospital for post-mortem.
In a video clip that had gone viral after the incident, some Nihangs are seen standing as the man lies on the ground in a pool of blood with his chopped off left hand lying next to him. The Nihangs are heard in the clip saying the man has been punished for “desecrating” a holy book of the Sikhs.
The deceased is survived by his wife and three daughters — the youngest one is eight years old and the eldest is 12 years old. “He got separated from his wife five-six years ago,” ASI Kabal Singh, who was at Lakhbir’s residence on Saturday, said.
“He took Rs 50 and said he was going for work in Chabal and will return after seven days. I thought he went to work there. He was not a person who would desecrate Guru Granth Sahib. The perpetrators must be punished,” Raj Kaur, sister of Lakhbir, said.
According to the family, the 36-year-old was a drug addict. “He was lured into going there. It should be probed and he must get justice,” Lakhbir’s father-in-law said.
Meanwhile, farmer leaders on Saturday said they will upgrade security by installing CCTV cameras and increasing the number of volunteers at the protest sites even as they asserted that the incident will have no impact on the agitation against the Centre’s three agri laws.
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