Gurbani singer dead, event he attended under scanner

Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa, 67, a Padma Shri awardee and a former hazoori ragi (Gurbani exponent) at Amritsar’s Golden Temple, died of a heart attack on Thursday a day after he was diagnosed with coronavirus (Covid-19).

Amritsar’s civil surgeon, Dr Prabhdeep Kaur Johal, said Khalsa was put on ventilator on Wednesday night after his condition worsened due to his bronchial asthma.

“He had visited England in November. A health department team visited his house on March 3 after we got the information that two guests–his uncle and aunt–from the US visited him. They were found asymptomatic. When the home quarantine period of the guests was over on March 17, they were found asymptomatic. Bhai Nirmal Singh then went to Chandigarh for a kirtan samagam [a devotional event] on March 19 where over 100 people had gathered,” Johal said.

She added he tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday. “He may have caught the infection during his trip to Chandigarh. He died of sudden cardiac arrest on Thursday.”

With his death, the toll from Covid-19 in Punjab has risen to six.

Khalsa was referred to the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital on March 30 after he complained of breathlessness.

The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has quarantined 84 people, who had attended the religious gathering where Khalsa performed in the city on March 19. An official said the 84 include 14 members of a family.

The religious gathering was held at a house in Chandigarh’s Sector 27. After Amritsar health authorities alerted their Chandigarh counterparts about Khalsa’s condition, tracing of his contacts was started in Chandigarh.

A Sector 27 resident said the gathering was held for a pre-wedding ceremony. “The next day there was a ladies Sangeet [music ceremony] and then the wedding. During three-four days, lots of functions were held and many people visited the house and roads were blocked with vehicles, “ said another neighbour.

A third neighbour said after reading the news about Khalsa’s death, she called police to inform them about the event in Sector 27. “One of the former judicial officers residing in the neighbourhood had advised them to postpone the wedding, but as their children had come from abroad, they could not change the plan at the last moment.”