WEB DESK
A member of the Sikh order ‘Nihang’ surrendered on Friday following a gruesome killing at a farmers’ protest site at Singhu on the Haryana-Delhi border. The victim had been found this morning with the right foot and left hand cut off.
Nihangs – a ‘warrior’ Sikh group – are being blamed for the brutal murder; at least three videos have emerged online, showing men dressed as Nihangs standing around the bloodied body
The semi-naked body of a man with his left wrist chopped was found hanging from a police barricade near the main stage of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) at Singhu border on Friday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Lakhbeer Singh, 35, of Cheema Khurd village, Tarn Taran, in Punjab.
Hours after the macabre crime, a man wearing the blue robes of the Sikhs’ Nihang order, appeared before the media, claiming that he had “punished” the victim for “desecrating” a holy book.
Earlier, in a video clip that surfaced on social media, some Nihangs are seen standing around the injured man with his severed left hand close to his head. The group is heard accusing him of desecrating a Sikh holy book.
It was alleged that Nihang Sikhs beat up the man allegedly for desecrating a holy book. The assailants chopped off his left wrist.
Videos of the incident went viral on social media.
In a video, some people were seen at the spot and the man was lying in a pool of blood on the ground and his eyes full of shock and pain. They were heard asking about his name and other details.
Hundreds of protesting farmers gathered at the spot. Inspector Ravi Kumar, SHO, Kundli, along with a team, reached the spot.
The victim Lakhbir, a Dalit, in his mid-30s, was a daily wage labourer. He is survived by a sister, a wife, and three daughters – the eldest just 12 and the youngest eight. He was killed on Friday morning at Singhu, near the Delhi-Haryana border, his right foot and left hand had been cut off.
Videos showing a large group of men who seem to be dressed as Nihangs – a ‘warrior’ Sikh group – standing around Lakhbir and asking him questions have been circulated in the media. Saravjit Singh, a member of a Nihang group, surrendered to the police this evening claiming responsibility. He has been arrested and will be presented in court on Saturday.