New Delhi, October 16:
In a shocking incident, the body of a man with hand chopped off and marks of at least 10 wounds caused by sharp-edged weapons was found tied to a barricade at a farmers’ protest site at on the outskirts of Delhi. The incident was reported at the Singhu border on Friday.
Hours after the macabre crime, a man wearing the blue robes of Nihangs appeared before the media, claiming that he had “punished” the victim for “desecrating” the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book.
Saravjeet Singh later surrendered to the police, but not before addressing the group of mediapersons where he and his associates said they are ready to do things like these again if someone “dares to do crime like sacrilege again”. When asked if he had any regret, Singh replies in the negative.
Singh was taken in custody by the police amid chants of ‘Jo Bole So Nihal’. He will be produced before a court today. His video of claiming responsibility of the killing went viral on social media platforms.
In the purported video clip of the crime, some men in blue turbans and robes 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.
The video purportedly shows the Nihangs asking the man where had he come from and who sent him to commit the “sacrilege”. Lakhbir is heard pleading with the group in Punjabi. The source and authenticity of the videos couldn’t be verified.
“An FIR has been registered in the case,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Hansraj. Haryana Police said the body was found tied to a metal barricade near the Singhu protest site stage around 5.30am on Friday.
The victim has been identified as Lakhbir Singh, a Dalit farm labourer and a resident of village Cheema Khurd in Tarn Taran district of Punjab. Aged 35, Singh used to work as a labourer, and had no criminal record or affiliation with any political party, the police said.
The family of the deceased man, however, said that he could not have committed sacrilege.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of 43 unions coordinating the 11-month-long protest against three central agriculture laws, condemned the ‘gruesome killing’ of the man. In a statement, it said that “both the parties to the incident, the Nihang group and the deceased person, have no relation with SKM”.
The SKM has also demanded that the culprits should be punished after a lawful investigation into the allegation of murder and conspiracy behind sacrilege and they will “cooperate with the police and administration in any lawful action.”
