7-member team to probe Sikh peace activist’s murder

PESHAWAR: A high-level investigation team under the senior superintendent of police investigation was constituted to probe the murder of a Sikh community leader in Peshawar as his last rituals were offered at Attock district of the Punjab province on Wednesday.

A Sikh community peace activist Charanjeet Singh was shot dead by unidentified armed men outside his grocery shop at the Scheme Chowk on Kohat Road on Tuesday. The attackers managed to escape.

His body was first brought to the Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh Sahab in Dabgari from where it was shifted to Attock as there is no shamshan ghat or crematorium for the Sikhs and Hindus in Peshawar. And his last rituals were offered in Attock on Wednesday.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police authorities constituted a senior level investigation team head to probe the incident.

Senior Superintendent of Police Investigation, Peshawar, Nisar Ahmad Khan will head the seven-member probe team, which comprised of deputy superintendent of police of Badaber, DSP Investigation, station house officer concerned, in-charge investigation, officer from the Counter Kidnapping Cell for technical help and one representative of the Intelligence Bureau.

The Sikh community expressed anger and concern over the murder of their senior leader.

Charanjeet was a popular Sikh leader who had been active in promotion of interfaith harmony for the last several years. He was member of a number of forums promoting interfaith harmony.

“We strongly condemn the brutal killing of Charanjeet Singh and request the chief of army staff to arrest the killer or killers. This is conspiracy against the peaceful Sikh community and Pakistan,” a community leader Gurpal Singh said.

A couple of Sikh community members were killed in attacks in Peshawar and other parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the past. However, no such incidents happened in Peshawar since 2014.

The last attack was at Shabab Market in Hashtnagri in 2014 when one Jasmot Singh was killed while Bahram Singh and Manmit Singh were wounded by armed men.