A former Indian Army officer wanted in a 1996 killing in the disputed Kashmir region killed his wife and two of their children in their California home before apparently taking his own life, authorities said.
Avtar Singh called police at about 6:15am on Saturday and told them that he had just killed four people, Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Curtice said.
MILITARY PAST
Selma police asked for assistance from the sheriff’s office because Singh was known to have a military background and was wanted by authorities in India for allegedly killing a human rights lawyer in 1996 in the disputed Kashmir region, Curtice said.
When a sheriff’s SWAT team entered the home they found the bodies of Singh, a woman believed to be his wife and two children, ages three and 15, Curtice said. All four appeared to have died from gunshot wounds.
A 17-year-old boy also found in the home was suffering from severe head trauma and was “barely alive,” Curtice said. The teen was taken to a hospital where he underwent surgery. His condition was not known.
Singh fled to the US after he was accused of killing lawyer Jaleel Andrabi in India-controlled Kashmir’s main city Srinagar.
Andrabi disappeared in March 1996 at the height of an anti-India uprising and his body was recovered 19 days later in a local river. He had been shot in the head and his eyes gouged out.
PREVIOUS ARREST
Singh, 47, was arrested by police in February last year when his wife reported that he had choked her, Selma Police Department Chief Myron Dyck said shortly after that arrest. After Singh was taken into custody, police discovered that he was being sought in India.
Several days later, India requested that the US arrest and extradite Singh. It was not clear on Saturday why Singh had remained free since the request.
Dyck did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Saturday about last year’s arrest and Selma police referred questions about Saturday’s incident to Fresno County sheriff’s officials.
Selma police last had contact with Singh about two months ago when he called to complain that reporters would not leave him alone because of the murder warrant, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims told the Fresno Bee.
Singh owned and operated Jay Truck Lines, a trucking company in Selma. Alli Adan, a driver for the company, said he spent time with Singh last week, including on Friday night, and Singh acted normally.
“He was a nice guy,” Adan told the newspaper. “I couldn’t believe it because I didn’t think he could do something like this.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese