Personal rivalry led to Sikh youth’s murder in Afghanistan: Sushma

New Delhi, December 4

The government probe into the recent killing of Sikh youth Rawail Singh in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad has hinted at personal rivalry as the cause for the murder.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj gave this information in a recent letter to BJP national vice-president Avinash Rai Khanna, who had requested her for a probe into the murder. Khanna shared the letter with The Tribune, which had earlier highlighted the case.

Swaraj said the government was aware of a number of incidents against Sikhs and other minority communities in Afghanistan and was taking them up with the Afghan government. “The government is trying to frame policies in such a manner as to offer maximum support to such communities should they choose to relocate to India,” she said in the letter.

Replying to Khanna, Swaraj said: “Rawail’s killing initially looked like a case of militant action but was later found to be the result of a quarrel with another Sikh man Charanjit Singh. Rawail had objections to Charanjit’s association to an Afghan national police guard, Khan Mohammad. On the day of the murder, Khan Mohammad had come to Rawail’s house and after an altercation took him away in a vehicle.”

The minister’s letter adds that Rawail was shot dead by Khan Mohammad who later dumped his body about 15 km from Jalalabad city. — TNS