A young NRI Canadian visiting Punjab is dead after a minor conflict over music being played in public in Anadpur Sahib during Hola Muhalla celebrations lead to an all out brawl with 24-year-old Pradeep Singh losing his life. Mohali police officials said they have arrested the accused, who has been identified as Niranjan Singh.

By DESIBZZCanada Staff With News Files

MOHALI – A young NRI Canadian visiting Punjab is dead after a minor conflict over music being played in public in Anadpur Sahib during Hola Muhalla celebrations lead to an all out brawl with 24-year-old Pradeep Singh losing his life.

Mohali police officials said they have arrested the accused, who has been identified as Niranjan Singh.

SSP Mohali said, "The victim, Pradeep Singh had worn the dress code of Nihangs at the time of the incident. So far he has not been found linked to any Nihang group".

Officials said they were examining all the viral videos of the incident.

"I appeal to people not to believe any rumours. Further probe is underway," he informed.

"A case has been registered and the accused has been identified as Niranjan Singh. The victim is a Permanent Resident (PR) of Canada & had come to India in February," said SSP Mohali

According to the information, the victim had come to his village a few months back and was his parent's only child.

The family members of the victim alleged that Pradeep was killed by goons on his way to Mohali.

"He saw a few hooligans playing inappropriate songs in a car in full public view. He tried to reason out with them. But they attacked him and he died on the spot," family members of the victim alleged.

Pardeep Singh had come to pay obeisance at Shri Anandpur Sahib on the eve of Hola Mohalla when he objected to some men who were using loud speakers in their jeeps to play songs

Pardeep Singh came from a family of army personnel. His father Gurbaksh Singh is an honorary captain in the Indian Army and is due to retire in May this year while his uncle Gurdial Singh retired as a havaldar from the Indian Army recently.

Hola Mohalla witnesses one of the largest religious congregations in Punjab and is celebrated at Anandpur Sahib in Ropar district every year. The celebration of this festival dates back to Tenth Sikh master Guru Gobind Singh whose soldiers used to display their martial arts on this occasion.

Pardeep Singh’s uncle Gurdial Singh told The Indian Express that Pardeep had gone to Canada in 2016 after completing Plus Two and was now the Permanent Resident (PR) of the country. Pardeep’s younger sister Kiranbir Kaur too is in Canada.

Gurdial Singh further said that Pardeep had come to India in September last year to attend his daughter’s wedding which was scheduled in October.

“After attending the marriage, Pardeep told me that he wanted to learn the art of tattoo making, for which he went to his maternal house in Khassan village in Kapurthala district. He would go to Jalandhar from Khassan to train as a tattoo artist,” Gurdial Singh added.

Pardeep Singh was to leave for Canada in January but he delayed his departure for pilgrimage to Patna Sahib with his family in February.

He decided to visit Anandpur Sahib because of a Canada-based friend Gurdarshan Singh, who landed in India on February 18. The two then decided to visit Anandpur Sahib to celebrate Hola Mohalla this year.

Gurdial Singh said Pardeep left home on his bike on March 4 and spent the night at Gurdarshan’s house near Nawashehar from where they both left for Anandpur Sahib where they had rented a room on March 5.

While narrating the sequence of events which led to Pardeep’s murder, Gurdial Singh said they came to know from a man who was accompanying Pardeep at the time of the incident that Gurdarshan Singh had hurt his foot and had trouble walking. The two friends went to visit the tent of Budha Dal- a Nihang outfit.

 “Pardeep was a follower of Budha Dal since his childhood. From the Budha Dal’s tent Pardeep took a person with him on his bike leaving behind Gurdarshan,” Gurdial Singh said.

“Pardeep wanted to visit the gurudwaras in Anandpur Sahib, but while he was on his way, he saw some hooligans playing loud music and creating a nuisance. When he asked them to lower the volume, they started arguing with Pardeep. Eventually they wrestled him down and stabbed him,” Gurdial Singh told The Indian Express.

When asked since when had Pardeep been dressing like a Nihang, Gurdial clarified that he was a baptised Sikh and a staunch follower of Budha Dal. He added that Pardeep used to wear the dress of Nihangs since his childhood and even in Canada he used to visit the camps of Budha Dal.

The family is awaiting the arrival of Pardeep’s sister to perform his last rites.

Meanwhile, the Ropar police claimed to recover the jeep used by the culprits and also identified one of the accused as Niranjan Singh of Noorpurbedi. The accused was also injured and was admitted to PGI, Chandigarh.