LONDON: A Sikh man has been charged with possession of a knife and stabbing two males throughout India’s Independence Day celebrations in Southall. The police mentioned the Sikh, Gurpreet Singh, is an Indian nationwide.
The ethnicity of the stabbed males has not been confirmed however each needed to be admitted to hospital. Unverified movies on social media present clashes between a handful of pro-Khalistan activists and a big group of younger Indian-origin males waving the tricolour on Tuesday in the course of the conventional August 15 celebrations in Southall Broadway.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police instructed TOI on Thursday: “At around 10 pm on 15 August, officers were policing an Indian Independence Day street event in the Broadway, Southall, when a member of the public informed them of an altercation that had taken place. They found two men, in their 30s, with knife injuries. They were taken to hospital where their injuries were assessed as not life threatening. They have since been discharged.”
Two males have been arrested on the scene.
Gurpreet Singh (25), who resides in Ilford, appeared at Uxbridge magistrates’ court docket on August 17 charged with tried grievous bodily hurt with intent, two counts of grievous bodily hurt with intent, affray, threats with a bladed article, and two counts of possession of a bladed article. He has been remanded in custody to look at Isleworth Crown Court docket on September 14.
The opposite arrested man, in his 20s, has been launched on police bail pending additional enquiries.
Following the incident a Part 35 dispersal order was authorised within the space.
Video footage on social media from earlier within the night reveals a cheerful scene of a big crowd of PIO women and men listening to “Jai Ho” by means of loudspeakers and waving the tricolour. One other video reveals younger PIO males shouting “Hindustan Zindabad”, wrapping themselves within the Indian flag and shouting “Jai Shree Ram” onSouthall Broadway and marching previous the railway station and native gurdwara, which has a picture of Bhindranwale on the outside.
However then, based on the movies, issues received out of hand when a couple of males with Khalistani flags confronted off towards the tricolour-carrying crowd.A video on Instagram by “Southall’s Finest” shows four to five men, holding yellow flags with Khalistan written in Devanagari script on, facing off against a huge crowd of young PIO men holding the tricolour and then the tricolour-holding men chase after one of the men holding the Khalistan flag. The video shows the police chasing them and a group of men can be seen beating and kicking one man up as police try to intervene.
Superintendent Sean Lynch, responsible for neighbourhood policing in Ealing, said: “I recognise the enormous concern this incident will have caused, both in Southall and in the Sikh communities around London and further afield, in what was an otherwise largely peaceful and celebratory event. Our urgent investigation continues. We are aware of footage circulating on social media, with people also commenting on what they think happened. We would urge people to avoid echoing or adding to speculation. Fortunately, none of those injured were seriously hurt and there were no fatalities.”
