‘Rush, I’m dying’: Victim Lovepreet Singh’s last words haunt father

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 5

Satnam Singh (60) has not been able to sleep since Sunday. The flailing voice of his son Lovepreet (20), one of the four farmers killed in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3, haunts him.

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“It was just like any other day. Lovepreet had attended several protests on farmers’ issues over the past months. This one was no different. Who knew it would turn fatal? I can never forget his last words. He called me up after being hit by a vehicle along the main road and asked me to rush to the hospital. His breath was shaky. He said he was dying,” says Singh.

While on the way to the hospital, Singh got the news that Lovepreet was no more.

“He died on the way. He never reached the hospital,” said Singh, his voice choking on tears. “We just want justice. We don’t want any compensation or help,” said a distraught Amanpreet Kaur, victim’s sister. The family claimed that Lovepreet had been shot after being mowed down by an SUV “driven by Minister of Home Ajay Mishra’s son”.

Also read: Punjab-origin MPs from Canada, UK heartbroken after seeing images of ‘brutal killings of farmers' in Lakhimpur Kheri

Three of the four deceased farmers cremated today were Lovepreet Singh, Nachhatar Singh (60) and Daljit Singh (35).

On the insistence of the family and farm leaders, the UP administration constituted a fresh medical board to conduct a second postmortem on Gurwinder Singh (19), who allegedly died of gunshot wounds. 

No compensation, want only justice

My brother was killed brutally... We don’t want any monetary compensation. Justice is all we demand. — Amanpreet Kaur, Lovepreet’s sister