Kapurthala man murdered in US
Jagjeet was murdered outside the store he worked in. Sikander Singh, his coworker and an eyewitness, said he became a victim of hate crime.
KAPURTHALA: In a suspected hate crime, a youth hailing from Nadala village in the district was stabbed to death by an unidentified person at Modesto city in California, US, on Friday.
The victim has been identified as Jagjeet Singh, 32, who was working in a grocery store.
A pall of gloom descended on Nadala on Saturday after Jagjeet’s parents and family learnt about his death.
Jagjeet is survived by his wife Kuljeet Kaur and two sons Ishmeet Singh (9) and Dilpreet Singh (7) who live in the village.
Jagjeet was living with his sister and brother-in-law in the US for the past one and a half years. His elder brother Harjeet Singh is settled in France.
“Jagjeet was murdered outside the store he worked in. Sikander Singh, his co-worker and an eyewitness, said he became a victim of hate crime,” said Kanwarjit Singh Cheema, victim’s brother-in-law, while talking to HT over phone from US.
He said that as per eyewitnesses, a US resident came at the store around 11.30 pm and asked for a cigarette.
However, Jagjeet asked for his identity proof which the latter failed to produce.
Cheema said that the customer left the store in fury after hurling racist remarks and warned Jagjeet that he would teach him a lesson.
“A few minutes later when Jagjeet came out after closing the store, a man attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon. He was rushed to a local hospital where he was declared brought dead,” Cheema said.
Jagjeet’s father Mohinder Singh said, “He went to the US to support the family financially. We borrowed money from our relatives to send him there.”
The family added that the United States police are investigating the case, but the attacker is yet to be arrested.