A Sikh "Hakeem" (Unani medicine practitioner) was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the city of Peshawar in Pakistan on Thursday.
Former CM of the Indian state of Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh has expressed grief on the incident. “Sad to know about the brutal murder of Hakeem Satnam Singh Ji at Peshawar, Pakistan.
Such a brutal attack against a minority community in Pakistan cannot be tolerated. Urge the @MEAIndia to take up the issue at the highest level & ensure Justice,” he tweeted.
According to police, Hakeem Sardar Satnam Singh Khalsa, was at his clinic when gunmen barged into his cabin and began firing bullets on him. He was shot four times and died on the spot.
The perpetrators were able to flee the crime scene.
A police team rushed to the scene and encircled the area in an attempt to apprehend the attackers. The motive for the murder has yet to be determined.
The police are looking into the matter from different angles, including the possibility of terrorism. However, no one has claimed the responsibility for crime yet.
The 45 year old, well-known Sikh figure was running his Dharmandar Pharmacy clinic on Charsadda Road in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He was a resident of the city
for past two decades.
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Peshawar has about 15,000 Sikhs, the majority of whom live in the Jogan Shah area of the provincial capital. The majority of Peshawar's Sikhs engage in the business world, and some even
own pharmacies.
Mahmood Khan, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, strongly condemned Singh's killing and ordered that the perpetrators be apprehended as soon as possible.
Notably, such incidents against the Sikh community are not new in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. Unknown individuals assassinated Charanjit Singh, a prominent Sikh community member, in
Peshawar in 2018. Ravinder Singh, a news anchor for a local television station, was slain in the city in 2020. Soren Singh, a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf National Assembly, was assassinated in Peshawar in 2016.