Nanakmatta Gurudwara Kar Sewa chief shot dead by 2 men in Uttarakhand; SIT set up

DEHRADUN/HALDWANI: Nanakmatta Gurudwara Kar Sewa chief Baba Tarsem Singh was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle in Nanakmatta town of Udham Singh Nagar on Thursday morning, police said, citing CCTV footage that captured the murder.

Police said Baba Tarsem Singh was shot twice with a rifle by the pillion rider and was taken to the hospital 15km away in Khatima where he later died.

Udham Singh Nagar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manjunath TC said the incident took place at about 6:15am. “Baba Tarsem Singh was sitting on a chair at the main gate inside the dera. While he was looking at his phone, two men, wearing turbans, entered the dera on the motorcycle and fired two shots at the dera chief…,” he said. The district police chief added that the two assailants, according to the CCTV footage, appeared to be Sikhs.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami condoled the death and instructed the director general of police (DGP) Abhinav Kumar to take prompt and strict action against the culprits.

“An SIT has been formed to investigate this incident. Strict instructions have been given to the top police officers to arrest these murderers, who are enemies of society and humanity, as soon as possible. May God grant peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family to bear the immense sorrow,” Dhami said in a post on X.

Uttarakhand director general of police Abhinav Kumar said a special investigation team (SIT) has been constituted including the Special Task Force (STF) and local police to nab the killers.

“It is a serious incident. The Nanakmatta Gurudrawa is one of the main religious sites in the state and the killing there is a matter of concern for us,” Kumar said.

“We have to identify the attackers but also expose any possible conspiracy, if any. We have also reached out to central agencies to share if they have any useful information regarding the incident,” he added.

Manjunath said eight police teams have been deployed to catch the killers. “Top investigators have been mobilised. Special Operations Group (SOG) and Special Task Force (SOG) have also been called up. The DGP has taken cognisance of the incident. All available resources have been made available to us,” he said.

“The postmortem will be carried out. We have also been working to maintain law and order,” the SSP added.

Manjunath said they could not comment about the motive until the suspects are apprehended. “We have come to know that the assailants were staying in the Nanakmatta gurudwara for eight days,” he said.

Nanakmatta Gurudwara, also known as Nanakmatta Sahib, is a Sikh pilgrimage site that is associated with Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism, who visited the place during his travels. At Nanakmatta Sahib, Kar Sewa is separately managed by its dera prabandhak.