Sikh murdered in Arizona

[Guest mehtab]

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/24jeet.htm

Sikh murdered in Arizona

Jeet Thayil in Mesa, Arizona | September 25, 2003 00:19 IST

Sukhvir 'Sonny' Singh, 33, was found dead on September 23 behind the counter of a convenience store in Tempe, Arizona, not far from the Mesa courthouse where Frank Roque is being tried for the murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas station owner.

A customer discovered Singh's body lying in a pool of blood behind the counter. He said there appeared to be a stab wound to the immigrant's head.

Police refused to label the death a hate crime, though they did say that the cash register appeared undisturbed. They said they were looking for a tall black homeless man who was seen leaving from the convenience store's back exit.

The killing was the third attack against a Sikh in recent times. Avtar Singh, 52, was pulled from his truck and shot four months ago. He survived.

JP's Food Mart is located in a well-heeled Phoenix suburb that is a hub of activity for the area. Area locals consider it a safe neighbourhood, and that adds to their frustrations.

Members of the Sikh community who gathered at the scene later that night were worried that it was yet another indication that Arizona's East Valley had become an unsafe place for immigrants.

"He was a good man, hard working," said Tejinder Singh, who also worked in the neighbourhood. "How could they take his life because of the way he looked or for a couple of hundred dollars?"

Singh did not wear

a turban. Like other young Sikh men he had cut his hair and beard once the news spread that Sodhi had been killed, four days after the terror attacks of Sept 11, because he was mistaken for an Arab.

Media and community observers have lately been pointing out that there has been a rise in neo-Nazi graffiti and hate literature in the area. The Islamic Community Centre nearby was vandalised a week earlier. The mosque was spray-painted with swastikas and hate slogans.

"My wife says we should sell everything and go back to India," said Harjit Singh Sodhi, brother to Balbir Sodhi, whose family owns a convenience store much like JP's Food Mart. "One by one Sikhs are being targeted in Arizona."

There are more than 600 Sikh families in the East Valley region of Arizona, which is a 30-minute drive from the state capitol of Phoenix.

[simran_kaur]

Waheguru :umm:

[Guest SikhForLife]

can anyone confirm this from a different site.. perhaps a local AZ newspaper.. i dont think i want to believe rediff.com news

[S1ngh]

U know what.. i think hate crime and other crime is different.. and whenever we hear news that Sikh got shot or killed.. The first thing we bring to our mind is "Hate Crime".. it has both good and bad side.. Good side is that this way more pressure will be on govt/state officals to give sikh community security.. and bad news is of mis-using the word and meaning of "hate crime"

Taxi driver.. Singh, 21 was shot and killed few miles from where i live.. All of us said that it is hate crime.. But if we look at facts..

1) the shooter himself is the immigrant from some african country

2) tried to rob him

Would you still think it's a hate crime.. Well i just wanna say.. investigate first.. just take example of that dude who was the asst. manager at some store in DC, cut his own hair, stole 3 or 4 grands and called cops and said he is victim of hate crime.. So make sure the news is trustable first ...

[Guest SikhForLife]

asst. manager at some store in DC, cut his own hair, stole 3 or 4 grands and called cops and said he is victim of hate crime.. So make sure the news is trustable first

unfortunatley.. that was my state of NJ.. not DC.. but ya.. ur rite

[simran_kaur]

Tru say Vicky veerji...

i agree wid you...

so did anyone get the same info from a local newspaper?.. as veerji demanded..??

.. we had an incident iek this in toronto too..

it's still sad tho... but most of the time we do come up with conclusions without facts ...

try avoiding that from now onwards...

[Mkhalsa]

i think its sad that a hate crime was committed against sikhs..

i think its even sadder that sikhs then commit a hate crime against guru sahib by cutting their kesh...

[S1ngh]

Thanks .. im kinda confused with mid-north east coast states.. hehe

Unfortunately this news gives us idea that no matter what.. one can't cheat death whether one wear turban or not.. so tell others proud to wear turban.. I seen many monaey people trying to convince sardars(new immigrants) to get hair cut by scaring them with the hate crime stories like of bhai sahib sodhi of AZ and others... Two of my distant relatives did that cauz ppls scared them :umm:

[~*SiNghNi*~]

if der is no motiv the its most likely to be a 'hate crime' which is very sad...very sad indeed something must be done

[Guest mehtab]

http://headlines.sify.com/2596news5.html?h...kh's~murder

US police arrest man for Sikh's murder

Washington: Police have arrested a 43-year-old transient in the slaying of India born Sukhvir Singh, a convenience store clerk, in Mesa, Arizona.

Mesa Police, on receiving a tip-off, arrested Bruce Phillip Reed yesterday, a local daily reported today.

Police had been searching for Reed since Tuesday evening when Singh was found stabbed to death in the JP's Food Mart on Mill Avenue, in Tempe where he worked. He was alone at that time.

Messa turned Reed over to Tempe police, who booked him on a count of first degree murder, The Arizona Republic said.

Reed, authorities say, had done odd jobs for Sukhvir Singh who was known as "Sonny" to many of his customers.

Customers say Singh tried to help Reed, who typically slept in some bushes near the store, by having him to do odd jobs in exchange for food and cigarettes.

Tempe Police believe that Reed stabbed Singh several times, a knife that might have been used in the killing was found yesterday at a business centre near the store.

Singh, who immigrated from India in 1997, was a Sikh, but authorities said they did not have any information leading them to believe his death was a hate crime.

Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh owner, of a gas station in Mesa was shot four days after the September 11 terrorist attacks in what prosecutors believe was a hate crime. Frank Roque, the defendent in the case, is cu

rrently on trial.

In May, a Phoenix truck driver Avtar Singh was shot and injured in what police believe was also a hate crime.