Singhu lynching: Man's family claims he was innocent and lured to the site

Lakhbir Singh, 35, was a resident of village Cheema Khurd in Tarn Taran district of Punjab and used to work as a labourer. His body with multiple wounds and severed left hand was discovered early in the morning at Singhu border on Friday.

Family members and relatives of Lakhbir Singh, whose body was found at Singhu border, claimed he was an addict and lured to the border site, where farmers are protesting against the Centre’s three new farm laws since November last year. His family members demanded justice at the earliest and punishment for the guilty.

Police personnel at the Singhu border site where a 35-year-old man was found tied to a barricade on October 15, 2021.  (Manoj Dhaka/HT Photo)

Lakhbir Singh, 35, was a resident of village Cheema Khurd in Tarn Taran district of Punjab and used to work as a labourer. His body with multiple wounds and severed left hand was discovered early in the morning at Singhu border on Friday. The gruesome incident has been blamed on Nihangs, a Sikh order identified by their blue robes and swords. The police have registered an FIR in this case.

“We do not know how he reached the Singhu border and who took him there. I received a call from my daughter in the morning and she told me that Lakhbir was found dead at the Singhu border,” Baldev Singh, Lakhbir’s father-in-law told news agency ANI on Friday.

“He has three daughters and a wife in his family. How will they survive now without him? We demand justice for him and the guilty should be punished soon,” Baldev Singh added.

Lakhbir’s sister, Raj Kaur, meanwhile, said that her brother had no criminal history and was innocent. “He took ₹50 from me and said that he will return in a week after doing some work. But he did not return and was found dead in this manner. We do not know why he was killed and hanged in such a situation and who is responsible for it,” Kaur told ANI.

A video that started doing the rounds on social media showed men in blue turbans and robes surrounding the body of Singh while he was still alive with his severed hand close to his head. The men can be heard accusing Lakhbir of desecrating the Guru Granth Sahib.

The video purportedly shows the Nihangs asking the man where he had 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 video couldn’t be verified.

News agency PTI reported on Friday that hours after the crime, a man named Sarabjit Singh, donning the robes of the Nihang order, claimed that he punished Lakhbir for desecrating the holy book. “Sarabjit Singh, the son of Kashmir Singh, a resident of Vitwha in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district has been arrested,” the police said. He will be produced before a court in Sonepat today.

(With agency inputs)