india

Updated: May 02, 2019 00:05 IST

Jasvinder Singh had met Hakikat Singh, whom he had known for 11 years, on Sunday morning, shared “chai-paani” as they had done innumerable times before, and talked.

Later that day, Hakikat Singh, a 59-year-old factory worker, was found dead in his apartment in West Chester Township apartment in Ohio state. Also dead were his wife Paramjit Kaur, 62, their adult daughter and only child Shalinderjit Kaur, 39, and a relative who was visiting from India, Amarjit Kaur, 58.

“He was such a nice person, never had any argument and he was so down to earth,” Jasvinder Singh, executive president of Guru Nanak Society Sikh Gurudwara Sahib of Greater Cincinnati, said about Hakikat Singh. They had first met when the gurdwara official arrived in the area around 2008. Hakikat Singh, who was from Fatehgarh district in Punjab, had been in the US for much longer, “27-30 years”.

Jasvinder Singh said Hakikat Singh came to the gurdwara mostly on Sundays but his wife and daughter visited more frequently. “They would come during the week to volunteer in the kitchen and cook for the langar,” he said.

The four were found dead by the victim’s son-in-law, who was married to Shalinderjit Kaur. The couple have three children.

“My wife and my family are bleeding... they’re on the ground and they’re bleeding,” he had said on the 911 call, a recording of which was released by the police.

West Chester police chief Joel Herzog told reporters on Monday all four died of gunshot wounds. There has been no word on the motive behind the shooting and the police have not said yet if there is a person of interest or a suspect. There has also been no indication yet if investigators are looking at this as a hate crime. The Sikh Coalition, an advocacy group which tracks hate bias against members of the community, posted on Twitter on Tuesday, “While there are no immediate signs of bias involved, we are working to learn more details & assess community needs ASAP.” It has not issued updates yet.

The victims were identified by the local coroner’s office on Tuesday. But the bodies have not been released. “The family will decide the funeral arrangements and the relative’s body will have to be sent to India,” Jasvinder Singh said. The Indian consulate general in New York is in touch with the family and the community.

Crime team divers were seen searching a water body behind the apartment complex on Tuesday. A witness said he saw the team pull out an item from the pond. “I could see them holding something but their body was between me and (the item),” said Rick Karvosky, who lives in the complex, told Journal News, a local publication. “I could just see them carrying something up to the shore and put it in a white bucket.”

Local authorities have been touch with the family and relatives. Martin Schneider, administrator for the Butler County Coroner’s Office, said, according to Journal News, the office was continuing to contact the next of kin of those found dead.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had confirmed in a tweet on Tuesday that one of the victims was Indian. “Indian Ambassador in United States @IndianEmbassyUS has informed me about the killing of four persons in Cincinnati on Sunday evening. One of them was an Indian national on a visit to US while others were persons of Indian origin.”