First Sikh police officer in Texas shot dead
NEW YORK: A US-Sikh police officer, who made national headlines when he was allowed to grow a beard and wear a turban on the job, was shot dead in an “ambushstyle” attack in a “ruthless, coldblooded way” in the US State of Texas, a senior official said on Saturday.
Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal, a 10-year veteran of the Harris County Sheriff’s office and its first Sikh deputy, was gunned down while conducting a mid-day traffic stop in northwest of Houston on Friday, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
The officer said Dhaliwal, 42, was taken by helicopter to a hospital where he died.
“I’m sad to share with you that we’ve lost one of our own. Our HCSO Texas was unable to recover from his injuries,” Gonzalez said in a tweet. Gonzalez said Robert Soli, driver of the car 42-year-old Dhaliwal had pulled over for checking, was charged with murder and faces the death penalty if found guilty.
Dhaliwal was married and was a father of three children.
A pall of gloom descended on Dhaliwal’s ancestral village in Punjab’s Kapurthala district after news of his death reached there. Dhaliwal had migrated to the US in 1995 from Dhaliwal Bet village.
SANDEEP DHALIWAL, WHO WAS SHOT IN TEXAS ON FRIDAY, WAS PLANNING TO VISIT HOME ON DIWALI
KAPURTHALA: A pall of gloom descended on Dhaliwal Bet in the district, the native village of Indian-American Sikh police officer Sandeep Dhaliwal, 42, who was killed in Texas on Friday.
The relatives and villagers assembled at the house of Dhaliwal’s uncle Kartar Singh to mourn the death of the police officer.
Dhaliwal, along with his mother and two sisters, migrated to the US permanently in 1995 to live with his father Pyara Singh.
The cop, who made headlines in the US when he was allowed to grow a beard and wear a turban on the job, was shot and killed in an “ambush-style” attack while conducting a mid-day traffic stop.
His cousin Joginder Singh said the family came to know about the shocking news on Saturday morning through a phone call from a relative.
“Sandeep was a brave and cheerful person. He always gave me due respect of an elder brother. I still can’t believe how someone could kill a noble person like him,” He said.
Joginder said Dhaliwal had visited the village last year when he came to India to immerse the ashes of his mother at Kiratpur Sahib. He was planning to arrive here on October 13 to celebrate Diwali in India, he said.
“I talked to him three days ago when he shared his plan to visit India next month. But I had no idea that it would be my last conversation with him,” he added.