Jail for role in attempted murder of Sikh radio host
A man who claims he’s been framed for attempting to execute a Punjabi radio host has been jailed for his part in what the judge previously called “the most serious case of attempted murder”.
Harnek Singh, also known as Nekki, is a well-known figure in the Sikh community and Radio Virsa broadcaster with nearly half a million YouTube subscribers.
But some of the Sikh community disagreed with his more liberal views, and it was with that anger the Crown said a high priest Gurinderpal Brar plotted and then told others to kill Singh.
On December 23, 2020, as Harnek was returning home from broadcasting on Radio Virsa, unaware he was being followed, he pulled into his Wattle Downs, Auckland driveway, where three men wearing black, armed with bats and knives attacked him. He was stabbed more than 40 times and left for dead by Jobanpreet, Jaspal Singh and Sarvjeet Sidhu.
The plan almost succeeded, but Harnek miraculously survived the vicious attack.
At trial, Jobanpreet claimed he was not part of a “tight circle” with Brar, and was not a regular attendee of a temple all the defendants attended. This was despite Jobanpreet being in a relationship with Brar’s daughter.
Just after 8am on the day after the attack, Jobanpreet messaged his girlfriend saying: “He got stabbed with knives all across his neck ... we never thought he will still be safe”.
Days later, Jobanpreet spoke with glee of burning down Harnek’s house. He said he would let Harnek’s son live, but not the wife.
Justice Mark Woolford accepted that Jobanpreet’s role was more limited than that of Jaspal Singh and Sarvjeet Sidhu.
The judge said the offending was gravely serious, and the attack was motivated by religious and possibly political views.
Yesterday, Jobanpreet’s lawyer, Peter Kaye, said the attempted execution of another was inexcusable.
Jobanpreet will be deported back to India at the conclusion of his sentence.
Kaye conceded that his client’s attitude to the offending has been problematic, as he maintained he was not involved in the plotting or the execution of the plan to kill Harnek, instead claiming he tried to stop the attack.
Prosecutor Jay Tausi said the sentence should reflect the gravity of the offending, and should not be reduced for the deportation order to be carried out earlier.
Tausi said Jobanpreet still showed no remorse, and still posed a moderate to high risk of reoffending.
Harnek did not attend the sentencing yesterday, but prosecutor Leilani Taula read out his victim impact statement. In it, Harnek detailed coming face to face with death the night he was attacked.
Harnek said he went from being the most independent person to requiring help constantly. “My safety has become of upmost concern for my family. They fear I will be targeted again for the beliefs I hold. They fear they may be targeted, too. My wife and child wonder if there’s someone lurking in the shadows waiting to attack us again.”