- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Radhakrishna N S
A DRUNKEN row over unpaid work has ended in the murder of three Indian-origin builders in east London on Sunday (19).
The deceased have been identified as Narinder Singh, 26, Harinder Kumar, 22, and Baljit Singh, 34.
The Sikh men were stabbed to death and found covered in blood near Seven Kings station in Ilford.
According to an eye witness, the victims were stabbed to death after a large group of Asian men spilled out of a nearby restaurant, screaming and shouting in a furious drunken argument between two groups.
The police have said they believe the deaths were the result of a fight between two groups of Sikh men.
On Monday (20), two men, aged 29 and 39, were arrested on the suspicion of murder.
A group of forensics officers, with sniffer dogs, were seen combing South Park, Ilford, following the dreadful murders.
Victim Narinder Singh’s brother Jasbal told the Evening Standard he moved to the crime spot after being informed his brother and his friend Harinder Kumar had been assaulted in a group quarrel.
A local resident said that it took about 20 minutes for the police to reach the crime scene whereas around half an hour for the ambulances.
“The police stripped off the clothes of the men and tried to save them, which went on for a long time”, the locals said.
During a visit to the scene, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan narrated the incident as “shocking, horrific and scary”.
He met with local residents, some of whom complained of anti-social behaviour in the area, including drug-dealing.
Some of the local residents called for more police on the streets.
Detective Chief Superintendent Stephen Clayman told reporters: “We’ve seen over the last few years they (police) are under-resourced and overstretched, and they need our help to deal with the scourge of the increase in knife crime we’ve seen across our country, and London hasn’t escaped that.’
The leader of Redbridge Council Jas Athwal, ahead of the local Sikh community, was also joined by the mayor and other officials at the scene on Monday (20).
He said in a statement: “The tragic deaths of three young men in Seven Kings last night is devastating, and my thoughts are with their families who are going through unimaginable suffering right now.”
In one of the bloodiest years in the British capital’s recent history, 90 people were stabbed to death in London.
