$5,000.00 reward for catching these three men
By: Surjit Singh Flora
(Pictures provided by the Windsor Sikh Temple)
A four-member of Bhai Joginder Singh’s Jatha (Group) was invited to perform (chant hymn) kirtan from India, three of them gone missing. This group was invited by Windsor Sikh Temple to perform kirtan (preach) at the Gurdwara Sahib with his Jatha (Group.
These Three members were returning to Punjab, India, on March 29 disappeared from the gurdwara just a night before their flight was from Toronto Airport on March 29, 2018. 32-year-old Gurinder Singh, 26-year-old Satnam Singh, and 25-year-old Navdeep Singh, along with their fourth companion They were invited for the Kirtan services at the Windsor Gurdwara run by Sikh Cultural Society of Metropolitan Windsor, in Ontario, Canada. The group was given a formal farewell on March 28 with paying Honorarium by the Executive management at the Gurdwara during the evening session.
When the group was about to be picked up for going to Toronto Airport on Thursday morning, Bhai Joginder Singh informed the management that three of his colleagues went away from the gurdwara the night before and did not return.
The Gurdwara’s Executive Management immediately reported the disappearance of these guys to the local police and a case was registered by the police. Bhai Joginder Singh, the leader of this Kirtani group has been sent to Punjab on the advice of the police. The Executive Committee expressed apprehension that the three missing preachers may have deliberately slipped away to live illegally in Canada.
Gurdwara Committee President Harjinder Singh Kandola said that this incident is very “unfortunate, shameful and condemnable.” He said that the search for these missing persons is continuing by both the police and the gurdwara management that has appealed to the Sikh community living in Canada to help find these three people and expressed the
hope that they would be arrested soon. The Windsor Gurdwara executive committee has announced a reward of $5,000 that will be given as a token of appreciation to the tipster that helps find the three absconding men.
According to the Canada Border Services Agency from the Canadian Consulate General in Chandigarh, 2,000 Sikh religious workers from India apply every year to work at Canadian Sikh temples.
The “Chandigarh has a large number of Sikh religious workers applying to work at gurdwaras across Canada. The number of applicants has been consistently close to 2,000 per year over the last five years and the number of gurdwaras requesting workers has grown from 61 in 2008 to 109 in 2014.”
“Gurdwaras are allotted a certain number of spaces and once those spaces are full, any future applications will be refused. Those issued visas are required to report back to the Consulate to confirm departure from Canada before that space can be filled by a new applicant.