Lynching victim cremated amid security in Tarn Taran
AMRITSAR: Farm labourer Lakhbir Singh, who was lynched, allegedly by the nihangs, at the farmers’ protest site at Singhu for alleged sacrilege, was cremated on Saturday at his native Cheema Kalan in Tarn Taran amid tight security in the presence of his close family members.
The cremation took place in the dark. No Sikh priest was present to perform the Ardas (Sikh religious prayer) and no one from his village Cheema Kalan attended the cremation, police sources said. Only 12 family members including wife Jaspreet Kaur, sister-in-law Simranjit Kaur, mother-in-law Sawinder Kaur, sister Raj Kaur and his three minor daughters were present for the last rites.
The district administration had sent a vehicle to Sonepat to bring the body of the deceased, which reached the village about 7pm. It was cremated immediately.
According to sources close to the family, as there were allegations of sacrilege against Lakhbir, some people from the village had told the family that only cremation would be allowed and thereafter none of the family members would be allowed to perform any kind of religious ritual.
A large contingent of security
CREMATION TAKES PLACE IN THE DARK AND THERE WAS NO SIKH PRIEST TO PERFORM THE ARDAS (RELIGIOUS PRAYER); NO ONE FROM VICTIM LAKHBIR SINGH’S VILLAGE CHEEMA KALAN ATTENDED THE CREMATION
personnel was deployed at the cremation ground as police escorted Lakhbir’s body in an ambulance.
Two people, Sarabjit Singh and Narain Singh, belonging to the Sikhs’ Nihang order have been arrested so far.
The body of Lakhbir Singh was found on Friday tied to a barricade at the Delhi-haryana border, where the anti-farm law protesters have been camping, with a hand chopped off and multiple wounds caused by sharp-edged weapons.
Hours after the macabre crime, one Sarabjit Sigh, wearing the blue robes of the Nihang order, claimed that he had “punished” the victim for “desecrating” a Sikh holy book.
(With PTI inputs)