TWO SIKH brothers from Patiala’s Model Town were shot dead in their restaurant in Richmond, California, on Thursday but the motive was not immediately clear.
Their family and the Sikh community in Richmond suspect that Ravinder Kalsi (40) and his younger brother Paramjit Kalsi (30) were victims of mistaken identities as the two gunmen neither committed theft nor did the victims have any personal enmity with anyone. According to reports, the killing took place around 9 p.m. (local time) on Thursday night when there were no customers in the brothers’ Sahib Indian restaurant.
Ravinder reportedly answered a knock on the door just after the restaurant closed for the day. A report said he was shot dead in the doorway itself. “The killers touched nothing, said nothing. They found Paramjit in the kitchen and shot him dead too,” the report in a US-based daily said. The police found one of them dead and the other was airlifted to an area hospital where he died later .
The Richmond police confirmed that there was no robbery and the only motive seemed to be murder Reports said the police had taken CCTV footage and were looking for witnesses.
Talking to HT in Patiala, a brother of the victims, Harinder Singh, said the restaurant manager had conveyed the news to them on Thursday “The manager told us that she saved herself by hiding under the counter when the gunmen shot them dead,” he said.
“They were doing their business sincerely What was their mistake?” asked Harinder Ravinder and Paramjit were both green card holders and had worked hard to set up the restaurant after they moved to the US about a decade ago, he said, adding they also had a real estate busines
s. The family was in a state of shock and their mother Gurbachan Kaur was inconsolable. The brothers are among nine siblings and had done their schooling from Patiala’s Government Multipurpose School. When contacted, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said he would take up the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the American Embassy “I will seek an inquiry into the incident.
It has to be seen whether this is a case of mistaken identities (post-9/11) or of racial hatred,” he added. Divisional Commissioner S.K. Ahluwalia has assured all help to the family MISTAKEN IDENTITY?
The victims’ family and the Sikh community in Richmond suspect that Ravinder and his younger brother Paramjit were victims of mistaken identities as the two gunmen neither committed theft nor did the victims have any personal onmity with anyone a Reports said the police had taken CCTV footage and were looking for witnesses.