A slap across face and gang war: Why a Sikh man was hacked to death in UK
In a tragic case of gang-related violence, a parcel delivery service driver, Aurman Singh, was hacked to death in Shrewsbury, England on August 21, 2023. According to a Daily Mail report, the brutal ambush followed a violent riot at a kabaddi match in Derbyshire just a day earlier.But now, a Daily Mail investigation has thrown new light on the reasons behind the 23-year-old's killing, suggesting that the kabaddi fight was only the latest in a series of violent incidents, which began with a single slap across the face.advertisementWell-placed gangland sources told the Mail the origins of the feud trace back months, when the head of a Sandwell-based Sikh gang slapped Singh during a money dispute. The humiliation spurred the slain driver to join a rival group in Derbyshire.
The UK's Daily Mail reported on the incident following a BBC documentary on the murder which was aired earlier in June.A SLAP TRIGGERED A GANG WARGangland sources told the Daily Mail that the head of a Sandwell-based Sikh gang, who goes by the street name of Geetha Geetha, slapped Aurman during a money dispute in November 2022. Following this, Aurman joined a rival gang in Derbyshire.In the ensuing ten months between the slap incident and Aurman's subsequent murder, there were several pre-planned clashes between the two factions, according to the report.advertisementThe tension between the rival gangs culminated in Singh being executed in a "cartel-style" assassination. The rival gang ambushed him in an attack so severe that they used an axe to crack his skull open, leaving his brain exposed, according to the report.Other outbreaks of violence included a "crazy fight" at Europe's largest Punjabi cultural festival, the Sandwell and Birmingham Mela, which was held close to Aurman's home in Smethwick, West Midlands, in July 2023.VIOLENCE AT THE KABBADI MATCH A DAY BEFORE AURMAN'S MURDERAurman travelled to Alvaston in Derby on August 20, 2023, to watch a tournament of Kabaddi.What began as a lively afternoon at the kabaddi event quickly descended into chaos: gang members armed with guns, machetes, and ceremonial swords clashed, leaving one man shot in the groin and others with deep slash wounds. Seven men were convicted of violent disorder linked to the riot last year.Although Derbyshire Police did not officially identify Aurman as involved, mobile footage captured at the event shows a masked assailant wearing a DPD parcel delivery service logo cap, which led the investigators to believe Aurman's involvement in the violence.According to the report, Punjabi gangs are growing throughout Britain, particularly in the Midlands. Unlike other street gangs, they do not have names but are referred to by their leader's pseudonym.advertisementThey reportedly often run along sectarian lines, preferring those of the Sikh Punjabi Jat (landowning farmers) caste and eschew anyone outside their religion, the report claimed.- Ends
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