Nirankari chief’s last rites on May 18, son-in-law dies

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 14

Chandigarh-based Avneet Setya, one of the two sons-in-law of the deceased Sant Nirankari Mission chief Baba Hardev Singh, has succumbed to his injuries. He was among those travelling with the sect chief in a car that met with an accident near Montreal, Canada, yesterday. 

Baba Hardev Singh’s body will be kept at one of the congregation centres in Burari village here from May 16 till the morning of May 18 for ‘antim darshan’ to enable devotees to pay their last respects and consigned to flames at the Nigam Bodh Ghat  in the afternoon. 

A functionary of the Nirankari Mission said Setya passed away last evening. Baba’s other son-in-law, Sandeep Khinda, and a New York-based devotee, Vivek Sharma, escaped with minor injuries. They were discharged from hospital yesterday.

"The car overturned, probably due to some technical  fault. A rescue team arrived at the crash site and rushed the occupants to a hospital in Montreal,” said a Mission functionary.

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To dispel the impression that the Mission had been reluctant to give out details of the tragic accident, he said: "The shocking news spread fast over the social media, but details of the accident poured in slowly."

A communique said: “In the demise of Nirankari Baba Hardev Singh ji, the world has lost an apostle of love, peace, tolerance and universal brotherhood.”

President Pranab Mukherjee  said: “I am sad and distressed to learn about the untimely demise of Baba Hardev Singh,  a pious soul who was always concerned about the welfare of the community."