Father of triple murder victim from Patiala suffers heart attack in London

LONDON/PATIALA: Father of 30-year-old Harinder Kumar, one of the three Punjabi men killed in a gruesome triple murder in Seven Kings, east London, on January 19, had a heart attack in London and was in hospital on Wednesday when one of the accused in the case, also a Punjabi man, appeared in the court. The trial in the case will commence on June 29, 2020.
Harinder’s funeral, which was to be held in east London on Thursday, has been delayed after his father’s sudden illness.His Patiala-based family — father Lavinder Kumar, mother Rama Rani, brother in law Sandeep Kumar and sister — reached London on February 12 to attend his funeral and the court hearing in the case before escorting his body back home for cremation.
Lavinder, an employee of the government press in Patiala, had been inconsolable since his son’s death and had taken leave for one month after his murder. Harinder had left for London in 2011 on a student visa and had not visited home since then.
Before leaving for London, Harinder’s brother-in-law Sandeep had complained to TOI last week, “None of the politicians here, including Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, helped us despite our efforts to meet her. We had also requested external affairs minister on his Twitter handle and had even written to him, seeking help to bring back Harinder’s body, but all in vain. A local Sikh organization in the UK is now helping us to bring the body back.”
He lamented that Harinder’s parents, who kept waiting for eight long years for his return, did not get to see him.”
The bodies of the other two victims — 29-year-old Narinder Singh Lubhaya and 37-year-old Malkit Singh Dhillon (known to people in the UK as Baljinder Singh) — are due to be flown back to India. The three murdered men were Indian nationals living in the Ilford area and all are thought to be illegals.
Indian national Gurjeet Singh, a 29-year-old overstayer who was served with a notice to leave in May 2015, appeared in the dock at Snaresbrook crown court on Wednesday and was charged with possessing a knife in a public place. He was taken to hospital on the night of the murders with injuries and on 21 January homicide detectives investigating the murders charged him with possessing an offensive weapon. He remains under investigation in connection with the murders.
Gurjeet, who required a Punjabi interpreter to understand court proceedings, was dressed in a grey pullover. Of slender build, he had very long brown curly hair tied in a ponytail and a beard. He listened with his head down, confirmed his name and pleaded “not guilty” to the charge. Three men who said they were his relatives sat near him in the court.
A large crowd of Punjabis was present outside the court and Gurjeet’s relatives had to be separated from the families of Harinder and Narinder, who had flown to London for the court hearing. Inside the court, they all sat on opposite sides of the court room. Harinder’s family was present, as was the father, cousin and other relatives of Narinder Singh. There were so many family members that they could not all fit inside the room and some had to wait outside.
On January 27, 2020, detectives investigating the death also charged Sandeep Singh, 29 of Montpelier Gardens, Chadwell Heath, Romford, with conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He is set to appear at Snaresbrook crown court on 24 February.