Fourth Punjab financier killed in Philippines in a month : Moga | Sun Aug 11 2013, 05:36 hrs Ramandeep Singh, 30, died in exactly the same way as three other youth from Punjab, who were all killed in the Philippines over this past month. His murderers came on motorbikes and shot him on a highway on the outskirts of Manila, the Philippines capital, on Friday. All the murdered youth belong to Moga and have another common thread: they were all financiers in Manila, who had left to earn their livelihood in the Southeast Asian nation in the past four years. While four youth have died in the past month, they are not the only victims from the state. Many more have been killed in the Philippines over the past two years. Despite the spate of killings, neither the Punjab government nor the Centre have taken note of them. While the state government has washed its hands off the matter by stating that it is the Union government that has to tackle such issues, the Centre has not uttered a word so far. On Saturday, as news of Ramandeep’s death spread, there was anger and shock at his native village of Gholian Kalan in Moga. Santokh Singh, the victim’s brother, said Ramandeep had gone to Manila about two-and-a-half years back. Their eldest brother is also settled in Manila. “On Friday he was coming back from work and miscreants on motorbikes shot him dead. He was not even married,” Santokh told The Sunday Express. The family now wants the Punjab government to intervene on their behalf and get custody of Ramandeep’s body from Philippine authorities. They, however, have not decided if they want to bring his body back to India. External Affairs Ministry has to deal with such issues: Home Secy CHANDIGARH: While condemning the killing of Punjabi youth in Philippines, Punjab home secretary D S Bains, however, said it was for the External Affairs Ministry to deal with such issues. “We express grief over the deaths but it is entirely the work of External Affairs Ministry to tackle the situation. We can definitely help the families in getting the bodies back from foreign lands if they need our help,” Bains said. He added that the Punjab home department has so far not received any information on the issue from either the Centre or any other source. On Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal blamed the Congress for ‘failing to protect Punjabis living in Philippines. Minister of State for External Affairs, Preneet Kaur, did not respond to calls or mails despite repeated attempts.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 03:59:28 +0000
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