Attack on Gurdwara Sri Singh Sabha in Baljit Nagar, Delhi
There is darkness everywhere, blood spatters and an unconscious body lies on the floor. Bhai Prabhjit Singh, a Sikh sewadar who was severly beaten, lapsed into a coma, dying 11days later.
The location was New Delhi, India - Capital of World’s largest Democracy, where a gang of street thugs raided and pillaged a Gurdwara Sahib building and viciously beat an innocent Sikh, Bhai Prabhjit Singh, leaving him for dead.
This scene is not from 1984, but from 2007. Neither is it a scene shot for the latest Bollywood Movie. The deadly and senseless rampage took place at Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Baljit Nagar.
On the night of November 22nd, a gang of local thugs (later identified as Sunny Dutta, Sundeep Dutta, Naresh Dutta and Babli Dutta) forcefully entered the Gurdwara Sahib after breaking its main door where they then severely beat a Sikh sewadar, Bhai Prabhjit Singh. Leaving him for dead they then destroyed a substantial amount of Gurdwara Sahib property.
Barely alive Bhai Prabhjit Singh was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi. His wounds, the damage to his skull in particular, had caused severe swelling of his brain which affected his ability to breath causing him to lapse into a coma. The hopes of those who cared for him were crushed 11 days later, on December 3rd, when Bhai Prabhjit Singh succumbed to his injuries without ever regaining consciousness.
According to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), the Dutta group that attacked the Gurdwara Sahib belongs to a notorious family in Delhi, which has several criminal cases pending against its family members.
The DSGMC complained that although the Patel Nagar Police Station has reportedly registered a case against the Duttas, it has not included charges for the attack on the Gurdwara Sahib.
Such attacks on religions places and of hurting religious sentiments are punishable under sections 295 and 295-A of Indian Penal Code.
Local Sikh organizations, along with the DSGMC have demanded that the criminals of the Dutta family who are responsible for the murder of Bhai Prabhjit Singh and sacrilege of the Gurdwara Sahib be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Bhai Prabhjit Singh’s funeral and last rites were performed on December 4th, with a procession from Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Baljit Nagar to the local cremation grounds.
The defendants, Sumeet Dutta, Ramesh/Manesh Dutta and Sundeep Dutta, along with their father Nitish Dutta, and mother Asha Dutta are being charged for the bloody attack on the Sikh sewadar. While the Duttas brothers are in Police custody, their parents, who also implicated, have been in hiding and so far avoided arrest. Interestingly, the Delhi Police has not made any effort to locate the absconding couple.
Duttas, brothers are in Police custody
Shahbaaz Khalsa and other members of the Sikh community who have worked diligently over the past few years in hopes of bringing the killers of Prabhjit Singh to trial and eventual justice, stated that their sewadars along with key witnesses are being threatened and intimidated by criminal elements connected to the Dutta family. Bhai Mohinder Singh Khalsa, a neighbor, and Parminder Singh, the Granthi Singh at Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Baljit Nagar, and his wife Inderjit Kaur have been manhandled and threatened by ruffians connected to the Duttas. Mohinder Singh Khalsa and Parminder Singh have both testified at the trial, they are to be cross-examined by the defence in the coming days.
Local Sikh organizations, along with Shahbaaz Khalsa and GURSIKH, have expressed concern for the safety of the witnesses, and demanded that authorities uphold the rule of law and look into the complaints raised by the Sikh community.
