Sikh pilgrim dies of cardiac arrest in Pakistan

Body of the pilgrim was handed over to the BSF at the Wagah border where his wife was also present; currently, over 2,500 Indian Sikhs are in Pakistan in connection with Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary festivities

An Indian Sikh pilgrim, who was in his 70s, died reportedly due to cardiac arrest in Pakistan’s Punjab province capital Lahore, an official said on Sunday.

Currently, over 2,500 Indian Sikhs are in Pakistan in connection with Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary festivities. (AFP file)

Preetam Singh complained of pain in his chest on Saturday evening. He was taken to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore where doctors could not save his life, said an official of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, which looks after the affairs of the minorities’ holy places.

He said the body of the pilgrim was handed over to the BSF at the Wagah border where his wife was also present. Currently, over 2,500 Indian Sikhs are in Pakistan in connection with Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary festivities.

A few days ago, an Indian Sikh family was looted by ‘robbers dressed in police uniform’ in Lahore.

According to police, Kanwal Jeet Singh and his family members, who had come here from India to attend Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary festivities, had gone to Liberty Market in the Gulberg area of Lahore for shopping on Wednesday.

“When the Sikh family came out of a shop, two robbers dressed in police uniform stopped them and looted cash and jewellery at gunpoint,” a police spokesperson, Ehtasham Haider, told PTI. Punjab caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi had ordered the Punjab police to arrest the culprits within 48 hours. However, no progress has been made in the case nor has any compensation been given to the victims.