Kin of Balkar Singh, killed in 2008 by Gurmeet Ram Rahim's bodyguards, ask for CBI probe

The family members of Balkar Singh, who was shot dead in Mumbai by security guards of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Baba Ram Rahim Insan in 2008, have approached Delhi's Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee asking for a CBI investigation into the matter.

Balkar's wife Darshan Kaur said that there were eyewitnesses of the incident. "We want the Dera chief, who ordered my husband's killing, to be made an accused in the case."

An altercation had taken place between three Sikh men and Ram Rahim's bodyguards at the Nirmal Lifestyle Mall in Mumbai when the former tried to enter a shop in which the godman was shopping. The brawl took place after Ram stoked a controversy by dressing in the attire of Guru Gobind Singh, the Sikh Panth's 10th guru, and serving nectar to his disciples.

Soon these Sikh men called more people at the mall and a mob gathered and pelted the bodyguards with stones after which five rounds were fired. In a video footage, Balkar's Tata Indigo car is seen intercepted by a security official before he open fire and Singh gets shot in the chest. In the footage, the convoy is seen leaving the spot. As many as 13 people were arrested. Ram Rahim was not made an accused in the case.

The accused were acquitted as the report of weapons seized by the police and the bullet found from Balkar Singh's body didn't match. Eyewitnesses were not able to give a coherent account of the incident, what triggered gunfiring and how were people injured.

"The impact of the bullet was such that it came out of his body along with the flesh", said Avtar Singh, an eyewitness in the case. "When the gun was seen, it was believed that it was not the correct one. May be after the firing, when the convoy left for Khalapur, they got a chance to destroy the murder weapon."

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