PESHAWAR, Oct 3:
The family of Sardar Satnam Singh (Khalsa) has said that the police are still clueless about the assailants who managed to escape after killing the well-known Sikh ‘hakeem’ in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar.
Satnam Singh, 45, who practised Unani medicine, was at his clinic on Thursday when some unidentified gunmen barged into his cabin and opened fire, killing him on the spot, the police said.
The Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate, dubbed Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), claimed responsibility for his killing.
Manmohan Singh, brother of Satnam Singh, said that the police have not yet found any clue to the killing of his brother.
“We have no enmity with anyone nor we had any issue with any person,” he said. “We are five brothers and sisters and belong to the Teerah area of Khyber tribal district Khyber.” Satnam Singh was the eldest.
However, the Peshawar police have claimed that they are close to nab the killers. The case is being investigated in scientific lines to trace the culprits, a senior police official said.
“They will soon be in the jail,” the official said.
The ISIS-K, which has stepped up attacks in several Afghan cities since the Taliban seized power in Kabul on August 15, had also claimed the deadly suicide attack at Kabul airport on August 26 that killed nearly 170 Afghans and 13 US military personnel.
On Saturday, an official said that the Interior Ministry has sought a report from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government into the killing of Singh.
An initial report has been sent to the interior ministry even as the police expanded the scope of their investigation, the official said.
Singh’s funeral was held on Friday.
Singh, a well-known figure in the Sikh community, was running his clinic ‘Dharmandar Pharmacy’ on Charsadda Road in Peshawar. He had been living in the city for the past 20 years.
Singh is survived by his wife, three daughters and two sons.
About 15,000 Sikhs live in Peshawar, mostly in the Jogan Shah neighborhood of the provincial capital. Most of the Sikh community members in Peshawar are involved in business, while some also run pharmacies.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has strongly condemned the killing of Singh and directed the police to take immediate steps to arrest the killers.
In 2018, Charanjit Singh, a prominent Sikh community member, was killed by unknown men in Peshawar.
Similarly, news channel anchor Ravinder Singh was killed in 2020 in the city. In 2016, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s National Assembly member Soren Singh was killed in Peshawar.
According to the 2017 census, Hindus constitute the largest religious minority in Pakistan. Christians make up the second largest religious minority. The Ahmadis, Sikhs and Parsis are also among the notable religious minorities in Pakistan. (PTI)
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