London, June 8: The mystery of an unknown Sikh on Queen Elizabeth's Royal Barge that sailed down the Thames to mark the monarch's diamond jubilee has been solved. An investigation by a British tabloid has found that the man was a sex offender who spent four years in a British prison.
But the mystery about who invited Harbinder Singh Rana, 52, remains. Rana was jailed in the 1980s for posing as a doctor and groping and molesting several women on the pretext of performing internal examinations or administering injections.
Rana has since rejigged himself as a pillar of the community and wormed his way into the good books of Elizabeth's son Prince Charles.
Rana was found guilty on five counts of indecent assault, 11 counts of assault causing bodily harm and one count of attempted assault in August 1986.
"In an astonishing error of judgment , the Sikh charity director, who now lives in Walsall in the West Midlands, was allowed to mingle with VIPs on the Royal Barge during Sunday's river pageant," said the Daily Mirror article. "The convicted sex attacker was at times during the 1,000 boat extravaganza just feet from the Queen herself."
Sex offender was invited by Charles to queen's party
Rana, a former management consultant,is understood to have met the prince through his charity work for the Anglo-Sikh heritage trail, a group that promotes Sikh culture in Britain.
The prince's staff appeared to be unaware of Rana's shameful past. It is not known if security checks were done on Rana.
"I was given the invitation and I attended. The fact that the Prince of Wales invited me clearly shows what I have done for the community since then," Rana told the British daily. "I have made it clear I wasn't representing the Sikh community , I was there because I was very happy to be invited."
However, the incident has created outrage in Britain about vetting procedures in place to protect the British royal family. An investigation is likely.
A spokesman for Charles said, "Harbinder Singh was asked to take part as he is a leading member of the Sikh community and someone who has done a lot of charitable work."
Scotland Yard claimed that those travelling on the royal barge would have been vetted by security. But Rana was not deemed a threat.
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