India’s main opposition party Congress feels there was a conspiracy behind the recent killing of a Dalit man at a protest site located on Delhi's Singhu border. He had allegedly desecrated the Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib, though his family has denied the claim.
Citing a media report, Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted in Hindi:
“The layers of conspiracy are now being uncovered. First, it was revealed that the accused were meeting the federal agriculture minister."
"Then Lakhbir Singh, who was murdered, had got a call from some influential personality and was asked to come to the Singhu border. Now, it has been revealed that the accused had taken Lakhbir to the Singhu border,” the tweet added.
The 35-year-old Dalit farm labourer -- Lakhbir Singh -- was found murdered at the farmers’ protest site last week with his hand chopped off and multiple injuries.
A senior police official has told media that Lakhbir was taken there by a Nihang Sikh Sarabjit Singh, the first to be arrested in the case.
Lakhbir was in touch with the accused Sarabjit and the latter frequently visited Lakhbir’s village Cheema Kalan in Punjab’s Tarn Taran District, the official added.
Earlier on Tuesday, a purported photograph of Nihang's sect's head Baba Aman Singh with federal Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar triggered a controversy.
The Sikh religious leader alleged that the federal government had offered money to the Nihangs to leave the farmers’ protest site at Singhu.
The photograph — which includes former Punjab Police officer Gurmeet Singh Pinky, who was dismissed from service and convicted in a murder case, and BJP politician Harwinder Garewal — is believed to be from a meeting held about two months ago.
The Nihang is an armed Sikh warrior order originating in the Indian subcontinent, and identified by their blue robes and swords.
Sarabjit Singh, the primary suspect in the murder of Lakhbir Singh, is a member of Nihang Baba Aman Singh’s sect. Aman Singh had justified the killing in his remarks after the incident.