Man, son arrested for attack on GK, get bail

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 13

The Sutter County sheriff’s office in California, US, arrested Jasbir Singh Lobana and his son Gagandeep Singh for allegedly attacking Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) chief Manjit Singh GK during his August 26 visit to California’s Yuba City gurdwara.

Charged under Section 245 (a) (4) of the California Penal Code, they were let off within 10 hours with lawyers of Sikhs for Justice securing bail for both. The accused were held on the basis of a video clip purportedly showing Jasbir Singh hitting a man, believed to be GK.

Jasbir Singh, it is learnt, is one of the prime witnesses against Jagdish Tytler, former Congress MP, for the latter’s alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Senior Akali leader GK, who was accompanied by supporters, was attacked in Yuba City five days after he was heckled in New York.

Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had claimed the attackers had “links” with Pakistan’s ISI and was quoted as saying Jasbir Singh had spent three months in jail for “trying to intimidate” an eyewitness in the the Tytler case.

In Delhi, the DSGMC president demanded that Jasbir Singh and his son be extradited to India to explore their links with Tytler and Sikhs for Justice. He said he would meet Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj in this regard.