A Punjabi couple from Jalandhar, who were living in the Philippines, were found dead with gunshot wounds in the capital city of Manila.
41-year-old Sukhwinder Singh and his wife, 33-year-old Kirandeep Kaur, were allegedly gunned down at night on Saturday, 25 March.
Their families in Mehsampur village in Jalandhar's Goraya were informed of the incident late Monday evening.
Originally from Mehsampur, Singh had settled in the Philippines 19 years ago and used to run a finance business in Manila alongside his elder brother Lakhbir Singh. However, he (Lakhbir Singh) was on vacation, visiting India for a family function.
Lakhbir Singh said that his brother and Kirandeep Kaur married three years ago, and she subsequently shifted to Manila almost five months ago.
Lakhbir provided details of the incident and said, “We were calling him repeatedly since Sunday, but he was not responding. I asked my uncle to visit his place, where he found my brother and his wife lying in a pool of blood.”
In CCTV footage accessed by the family, according to The Indian Express, an unknown assailant can be seen entering the couple’s residence on Saturday, 25 March, soon after Sukhwinder returned from work, and can be seen speaking to them.
However, he is momentarily seen firing three shots at Sukhvinder, and when Kaur rushes towards him, the assailant shoots her as well.
Hindustan Times said that according to Lakhbir, his brother had no enmity with anybody. Moreover, Sukhwinder’s family has urged the Indian government to bring the incident up with their Philippine counterparts and arrest those responsible at the earliest.
This is not the first incident of people from Punjab, who work in finance being killed in Philippines. In 2013, Kulwant Singh and his wife Charanjit Kaur, who lived in the Philippines for nine years, were killed with sharp-edged weapons. The couple belonged to Barnala district’s Jodhpur village.
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