Father-Son Duo Accused Over Assault on Indian Sikh Leader in U.S.

A father and son duo accused of assaulting Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) chief Manjit Singh GK in August was arrested and later released on bail by the California Sutter County Sheriff’s office.

Jasbir Singh Lobana, said to be a witness in the alleged role of Indian politician Jagdish Tytler, former Congress MP, in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi, was arrested along with his son Gagandeep Singh on Sept. 12. Each of them was later released on $20,000 bail. The two have been ordered to appear before the trial court in Sutter County on Oct. 15, the Times of India reported.

Both father and son are residents of California and have been charged for assault under Section 245(a)(4) of the California Penal Code, the report added. They were arrested on the basis of a video clip which allegedly showed Jasbir Singh hitting a man, believed to be GK. 

Earlier three people, Sukhwinder Singh, Gurdeep Singh and Sarabjit Singh ‘Saabi” Khangura were charged for the assault on the DSGMC chief which took place on Aug. 25 when the Indian politician was visiting a gurdwara in Yuba City of California. A group of Khalistan supporters allegedly attacked the Sikh leader, causing him to fall to the ground. Earlier the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and his family were also attacked in New York on Aug. 20 by Sikh separatists in the United States, PTI reported. 

Indian Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had then claimed that the attackers had ties with Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI, according to Tribune. She had added that Jasbir Singh had spent three months in jail for trying to intimidate an eye witness in the Tytler case. 

According to California Penal Code, assault is punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for one to three years or “in a county jail for not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment,” the Times of India quoted Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the legal adviser for Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), with whom Jasbir Singh had been working for the “Referendum 2020” as saying. Pannun has also claimed that Indian consulate in San Francisco tried to influence the Yuba City police department over Jasbir Singh’s bail plea by saying that he was wanted in India on criminal charges, the report added.  

“We shall object to the U.S. department of state about the Indian Consulate’s interference in the United States local judicial matters and will ask Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to order expulsion of those consulars who violated the American Laws,” Pannun said, according to the publication.