Pakistan: Two Sikh Trader Shot Dead In Peshawar, PM Shehbaz Sharif Condemns Killing

The victims were identified as 42-year-old Saljeet Singh and 38-year-old Ranjeet Singh who died on the spot. 

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New Delhi: Two traders belonging to the Sikh community were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Sarband area in Peshawar on Sunday, officials told news agency PTI. Sarband is a suburban locality situated in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. As per the report, the two people who were killed were shopkeepers who sold spices in Bata Tal bazaar in Sarband, police said.

The victims were identified as 42-year-old Saljeet Singh and 38-year-old Ranjeet Singh who died on the spot. 

The police have reached the spot and have encircled the area to catch the culprits. Though, no one has taken responsibility for the attack as yet. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif responded to the incident and condemned the killing adding that a high level inquiry has been ordered. 

"Strongly condemn the killing of our Sikh citizens in Peshawar, KP. Pakistan belongs to all its people. Have ordered a high level inquiry to ascertain facts. The killers will be arrested & meted out exemplary punishment. My most sincere sympathies to the bereaved families," tweeted the PM. 

Strongly condemn the killing of our Sikh citizens in Peshawar, KP. Pakistan belongs to all its people. Have ordered a high level inquiry to ascertain facts. The killers will be arrested & meted out exemplary punishment. My most sincere sympathies to the bereaved families.

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) May 15, 2022

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan took the cognisance of the incident and strongly condemned the attack and directed the police to take immediate steps to arrest the culprits, PTI reported.

He termed the incident a conspiracy against disrupting the inter-faith harmony and said that justice will be provided to the families of the dead. 

As per the PTI report, about 15,000 Sikhs live in Peshawar, mostly in the Jogan Shah neighbourhood of the provincial capital. Most of the members of the community are involved in business and some run pharmacies. 

What is noteworthy is that this is not an isolated incident of violence against the community, in September last year, a well-known Sikh ‘hakeem' (Unani medicine practitioner) was shot dead by unidentified gunmen inside his clinic in Peshawar.

In 2020, a news channel anchor named Ravinder Singh was killed in the city. In 2018, a prominent member of the community named Charanjit Singh was killed by unknown men in Peshawar. 

In 2016, a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf National Assembly member Soren Singh was also killed in the city.