Tributes paid to Punjab-origin businessman in UK

Gurmukh Singh Sohal, who came here from Punjab as a teenager in 1966 and went on to establish a major Indian foods company in Derby in the East Midlands, has died at the age 65.

He leaves behind his wife, Debo Kaur Sohal, 63, mother Chanan Kaur, 100, two sons and a daughter.

Sohal also contributed to the development of his native village of Sangal Sohal in Jalandhar district.

Known in the region as a humble and hardworking businessman, tributes have been paid to his many achievements and contributions, including activities related to Sikhism.

His son Bhupinder Sohal told the Derby Telegraph, a leading local daily, that his father was a hardworking, generous, selfless, loyal and humble person with a simple outlook on life.

Many recalled his efforts since 2008 to improve conditions in his native village Sangal Sohal by creating a fund to modernise the drainage and sewerage system there, install street lighting, construct roads, create a park area and plant trees.

Reports from Derby said every year, he sent his lorries to transport the elderly for the annual Sikh Vaisakhi parade. He also supported the Derby Caribbean Carnival through supplying stock and lending them a lorry each year.

A funeral service for Sohal, who passed away in early July, is scheduled on July 19 at the Guru Arjun Dev Gurdwara in Derby and the Marketon crematorium, the reports added.