Body Without Hand, Foot At Farmers’ Site, Focus On ‘Nihangs’

The body of a man was found with the right foot and left hand cut off at a farmers’ protest site at Kundli in Haryana’s Sonipat. Videos seem to show Nihangs – ‘warrior’ Sikhs – over the body. A murder case against unknown people has been filed.

Haryana Police have said the body was found at 5 am, after the local police station was alerted to its presence. News agency ANI quoted JS Randhawa, Superintendent of Sonipat Police, as saying “vital clues” had been recovered and an arrest is expected soon. Earlier Sandeep Khirwar, IGP (Rohtak Range) told ANI a forensic team examined the area. Police have filed an FIR (against an unknown person) carrying murder charges.

According to police the man is 35 (or 36)-year-old Lakhbir Singh from Punjab’s Tam Taran district. A Dalit, Lakhbir was a labourer and is survived by a sister, a wife and three daughters, the eldest of whom is just 12 years old and the youngest eight.

At least three videos have been circulated, showing a large group of men who seem to be dressed as Nihangs – a ‘warrior’ Sikh group – standing around Lakhbir Singh’s body and asking him questions. One video shows the group standing over him after his left hand has been cut off and he lies bleeding, his eyes glazed over in shock and pain.

The men, some carrying spears, can be heard demanding he tell them his name. Another shows Lakhbir Singh’s body (it is unclear if he is alive or dead at this point) strung upside down. A third shows him on the ground as the men film his dying moments.

Unconfirmed reports say Lakhbir Singh was beaten to death and his left hand and right foot were cut off for allegedly desecrating the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikhs’ holy book. His killers then tied the body to a police barricade and left it there to be discovered.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmers’ unions leading the protest, has condemned, and distanced itself from the murder. “… want to make it clear both sides – the Nihang group (and) the deceased – have no relation with the Kisan Morcha,” it said. The group said it abhorred religious sacrilege but nobody could take the law into their hands. The guilty must be punished, the group said, and offered the police its support.

Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, who is among the SKM’s leaders, said Lakhbir Singh was staying with a group of people at Singhu. Last night an argument broke out over allegations of desecration. “This should have been taken to the police… nobody can take the law into their hands,” he said, reiterating the SKM’s offer to cooperate with police.

The BJP’s Amit Malviya has hit out at farmer leader Rakesh Tikait over this issue, holding him responsible for Lakhbir Singh’s murder because of his comments about the death of two party workers in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri earlier this month.

Last year there was an incident involving Nihangs – a Punjab cop had his hand chopped off with a sword in Patiala after he asked them to show them ‘movement passes’ during the Covid lockdown. He recovered after extensive surgery.

Farmers have gathered at Singhu (on the Haryana-Delhi border) for over a year now to protest the farm laws. Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar was due to visit Sonipat this week to attend a public event. However, after protests from farmers (who have made it clear they will protest public appearances by all BJP leaders) he cancelled his visit.