Haryana: The body of a man with his hands and legs chopped off was found near a farmers’ protest site in Kundli town of Haryana’s Sonipat district on Friday morning, ANI reported, quoting the police.
The deceased has been identified as Lakhbir Singh, a Scheduled Caste labourer in his mid-thirties from Tarn Taran district of Punjab, the Haryana Police said. The body has been sent for a postmortem examination.
In a first information report in the matter, the police have charged unidentified persons with murder. On Friday morning, the police received information about a mutilated body being found at the protest site, the FIR stated. After reaching the spot, they found Lakhbir Singh’s body tied to a barricade with his hands and legs severed, the FIR added.
A group of Nihang Sikhs claimed responsibility for the killing in a video, The Indian Express reported. Sonipat Deputy Superintendent of Police Hansraj told reporters that the video was being investigated, ANI reported. The Nihangs are an order of Sikh warriors, distinct in their blue turbans with their long swords and horses.
The video purportedly shows the injured man lying in a pool of blood, according to PTI. The Nihangs, surrounding him, could be heard asking his name and native village.
In the FIR, the police said that Nihang Sikhs present at the site did not cooperate with the investigation and did not allow them to remove the body from the barricade.
Sonipat Superintendent of Police Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said that videos on social media showed a group of Nihang Sikhs claiming that Lakhbir Singh had disrespected a holy book of the Sikhs.
“It is suspected that he was beaten up and killed by some Nihang Sikhs,” Randhawa said. “This is a matter of investigation.”
He added that “vital clues” have been recovered from the crime scene and that police will soon arrest the accused. Scroll. In
