Youth shot dead in US: Pall of gloom descends on Amritsar village

AKSHPREET SINGH, 23, WHO WAS SHOT DEAD IN MISSISSIPI ON SATURDAY, HAD GONE TO THE USA THREE YEARS AGO TO WORK IN HIS FAMILY-OWNED GROCERY SHOPS

AMRITSAR : Three days after an Amritsar youth was shot dead in the United States of America (USA), family members of the youth in Mattewal village here sought that his body be handed over to the family at the earliest. Akshpreet Singh, 23, who was shot dead in Mississipi on Saturday, had gone to the USA three years ago to work in his family-owned grocery shops.

Deceased’s paternal uncle Sohan Singh said that even three days after the incident, the US government is yet to hand over the body to his father and brother who are based in Mississipi.

Akshpreet, his father and elder brother own five grocery shops in the USA. Akshpreet, who was supervising one of the stores on Saturday, got information that a man had stolen some valuables from his store.

“He checked CCTV footages and identified the man. He met the man at 9.30 pm (US timings) and entered into an argument with him. Soon a scuffle broke out between them and the accused shot him thrice, leaving him dead on the spot,”said Sohan Singh.

Sohan said the family was told that due to some holidays, postmortem of the body was delayed. “Akshpreet’s mother and sisterin-laws live in Mattewal village while all of his relatives live in the district. As everyone cannot fly to the US for the cremation, we demand that his body be sent to India”, said Sohan Singh.

The US government generally takes 15 days to fulfil the formalities in case the family wants to carry the body to its native place. “If the process is to take more than the stipulated time, we want Indian government to issue visas to the family members on urgent basis so that they can participate in his last rituals in the USA,” said Sohan.