AMRITSAR: A Bangalore-based retired Sikh Army officer, whose wife and two sons were allegedly assaulted and threatened, has approached the Akal Takht requesting it to use its influence on the Karnataka government to give him justice in the case.
In a letter written to the Akal Takht jathedar Col R S Uppal (retd) wrote, “My son Harmeet Uppal was brutally assaulted and he suffered multiple facial fractures and a broken jaw. He had to undergo a 5-our surgery and has six plates in his mouth. He was also hit on the chest, head, back and limbs. My younger son, Harpreet Uppal, suffered multiple blunt injuries on head, chest, face, back and limbs.”
Harmeet said his family had been getting threats from people, who told them to sell their property and leave the city. “We have met everybody in the Bangalore police establishment to get justice, but to no avail. Now, we have approached the Akal Takht to ensure that the culprits are booked immediately and we can live safely in Bangalore,” he said.
Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday spoke to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to seek his intervention to ensure justice for a Sikh family assaulted by miscreants in Bangalore.
Capt Amarinder called up his Karnataka counterpart to express concern over the brazen attack on the family members of retired Sikh army officer Colonel RS Uppal.
He urged Siddaramaiah to provide protection to the family and to direct the police to arrest the culprits immediately and bring them to book.
The Karnataka chief minister assured Capt Amarinder of all support from his government to Uppal’s family, an official spokesperson said.
Uppal’s wife and two sons were assaulted, with his son Harmeet, an IT professional working in the US, brutally attacked, leaving him with multiple fractures and other serious injuries.
Taking cognisance of media reports of the incident, Amarinder decided to get in touch with his Karnataka counterpart to seek his personal intervention in the matter, especially in view of Uppal’s charges that the Bangalore police failed to provide them with security despite complaints of threats received earlier from unknown persons.
Harmeet, an IT professional having worked in US, alleged, “They threatened to break the legs of my mother Surinder Kaur and outrage her modesty. Police did nothing to safeguard us.”
In the letter, Uppal has also mentioned that they were called ‘Pakistani’. He stated that despite the seriousness of the assault on the family, they were not even being provided its CCTV footage. “There are three cameras on the main road which captured the assault,” he mentioned.
Harmeet said he was hopeful that the Akal Takht jathedar would give directions to Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to constitute a committee and probe into the incident which had scared them enough to leave in India’s ‘Silicon valley’. “We hope the Akal Takht will write to the Karnataka government,” he said.
