In a tragic incident, eminent Punjabi writer Talwinder Singh and his wife Balwinder Kaur were killed when their vehicle collided with an unidentified truck on the Amritsar bypass late Monday night.
The deceased writer's son, Sumeet Singh, and daughter-in-law, Raminder Kaur, sustained injuries in the incident.
The family was returning from a marriage function when the accident took place.
Inspector Harish Behal, SHO, Chheharta police station, told HT, "The car was being driven by the writer's son. The unidentified truck could belong to the Army. But we are yet to establish the same."
Behal said the impact of the collision was such that the car was badly mangled. "Efforts are on to establish the identity of the driver," he added. The injured were rushed to a hospital.
A case under sections 304-A, 279 and 333-A, IPC, has been registered against the unidentified driver at Chheharta police station.
Meanwhile, the writers' fraternity was plunged in grief following the incident.
Expressing anguish over the death of Talwinder Singh and his wife, eminent theatre personality Kewal Dhaliwal, said, "Talwinder was born in a village near Amritsar in 1955. He had served as the general secretary of the Kendriya Punjabi Lekhak Sabha, president of Janwadi Lekhak Sabha and was a member of Virsa Vihar. He was a versatile writer and worked hard for the promotion of Punjabi."
{{/usCountry}}Expressing anguish over the death of Talwinder Singh and his wife, eminent theatre personality Kewal Dhaliwal, said, "Talwinder was born in a village near Amritsar in 1955. He had served as the general secretary of the Kendriya Punjabi Lekhak Sabha, president of Janwadi Lekhak Sabha and was a member of Virsa Vihar. He was a versatile writer and worked hard for the promotion of Punjabi."
{{/usCountry}}"Talwinder was associated with Punjabi literature ever since his college days and has more than 100 stories to his credit. He also edited 12 books, compiled eight and composed two novels in his lifetime," said Dhaliwal.
He said Singh was employed as the deputy director in the Statistical Department National Sample Survey (NSSO) and had been overseeing four districts.
Some of Talwinder Singh's notable works include 'Kali Raat', 'Vichli Aurat' (book) and 'Yodhe' (novel).
Meanwhile, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) also expressed grief over the death of the eminent writer.
Terming the incident as tragic, SGPC media advisor and Punjabi writer Daljit Singh Bedi said Singh's death was a huge blow to the literary circles.