Bansri Shah, Pune
A 25-year-old man belonging to the Sikh community was charged with stabbing two people at a community event in London. Gurpreet Singh was charged with a list of offenses at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court. He has been asked to reappear at Isleworth Crown Court in London on September 14 and until then he will remain under police custody.
According to a report by PTI, Gurpreet Singh has been charged with one count of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent, two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, one count of affray, one count of threats with a bladed article, and two counts of possession of a bladed article. Another man in his 20s was also apprehended in relation to the stabbing but has been released on bail pending further inquiries.
The incident occurred at an Indian Independence Day community event in Southall, west London, on the 15th of August. Video reports suggest that there were celebrations going on in the area when a few men carrying Khalistani flags got into a fight with people carrying the tricolor. The two groups soon got into a clash followed by the men holding the tricolor chasing the ones with the Khalistani flag.
The two men who were stabbed have been discharged with their injuries declared nonfatal. A female police officer who was involved in apprehending the instigators was said to have sustained a small wound on her hand, but medical intervention wasn’t required. No other injuries have been reported.
Section 35 dispersal order was immediately sanctioned in the area and has since been lifted.
“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,” said Sean Lynch, the Metropolitan Police Superintendent, the one in-charge for neighborhood policing in Ealing, West London.