- Monday, November 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
DALIT labourer Lakhbir Singh, who was lynched at the farmers’ protest site in Singhu border in north-west Delhi bordering Haryana on Friday (15), was cremated on Saturday (16) at his native village Tarn Taran in the northern state of Punjab amid tight security. Members of his close family were present during the cremation. No Sikh priest was present to perform Ardas (Sikh religious prayer) while no one from his village Cheema Kalan, located around 50 kilometres from the holy city of Amritsar, was seen on the occasion, police sources said.
According to sources close to the family of the deceased, since there were allegations of sacrilege against Lakhbir Singh, some people from the village had told the family that no ritual barring the cremation would be allowed to take place.
A large contingent of security personnel was deployed at the cremation ground as the police escorted Singh’s body in an ambulance.
Two persons – Sarabjit Singh and Narain Singh from the Sikhs’ Nihang sect – have been arrested so far in connection to the murder.
The body of Singh was found tied to a barricade at Singhu border where the anti-farm law protesters have been camping with a limb chopped off and multiple injuries caused by sharp weapons.
Hours after the gruesome act, Sarabjit Singh, donning the blue robes of the Nihang order, said he had “punished” the victim for “desecrating” a Sikh holy book.
Lakhbir Singh’s family said the former was a god-fearing man and could never think of desecrating a holy book and demanded a high-level probe into the murder.
