PATIALA: The families of three youths killed in London street brawl in January this year feel justice has not been done to them as the London court has allowed the killer to walk free.
The family members of 29-year-old Harinder Kumar of Patiala, who was stabbed to death on January 19 by another Punjabi man near Seven Kings station in East London, say they have not got justice as the London court let the person who killed him and two others escape punishment.
An inconsolable Rama Rani, mother of the deceased, said she lost her only son and now justice has also been denied to them. Harinder’s brother-in-law Sandeep Sharma said the court had let go the murderer, Gurjeet Singh (30), on the grounds of self-defence. “We reached UK in February and came to know that the London court had already provided us a counsel. We could not hire any private advocates and there was a lack of guidance too. We feel our case was not properly pursued in the court, so we lost the battle. We were shown the CCTV footage of the crime scene in which Harinder, along with two others, was killed in just 13 seconds by a Punjabi person with a professional knife,” Sharma said.
The London court said the three dead men — Harinder, Narinder Singh Lubaya, 29, from Adamvaal village in Hoshiarpur, and Malkit Singh Dhillon, 37, from Sarai Jattan village near Sultanpur Lodhi — together with their fellow builders Harpreet and Sandeep Singh (both sentenced) had plotted an attack on Gurjeet with hammers and knives in revenge for a row between Narinder and Gurjeet at a celebration a night before.
Narinder’s father Harjeet Singh, who is an ex-serviceman, said he was disappointed but not really surprised at the outcome of the case. “When I went there with my nephew to bring Narinder’s body back, investigators showed me the CCTV footage. I was shocked when they said the three had attacked the man who killed them. I don’t think it can be called justice as the man who stabbed three to death has been allowed to go scot free.”
He said that Narinder was his only son after six daughters. “He had gone there to study and started working there later. He was to get his papers of stay (in UK) this February and had told us that he would come to meet us in March. Instead, I brought his body back,” he said.
Malkit’s brother Narinder said, “My cousins in UK have been following the case and we did not know much here,” he said. Malkit had gone to UK around 16 years ago and never returned. He did not even come when his father died around 10 years back, fearing that he would not be able to go back, he said.
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A Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesperson said on Monday: “Following an assessment of the evidence referred to us by the police, we did not charge Gurjeet Singh with more serious offences because he had been acting in self-defence.” He was instead charged with having a bladed weapon in a public place and was found not guilty by a jury. “The role of the CPS is to make fair and independent decisions based on the evidence and present our case in court. We respect the decision of the jury.”
The knife used in the crime was never recovered.