Saudi Arabia beheads two men for killing Indian expatriate

Chandigarh, Apr 17: The foreign ministry has confirmed that two Indians, Satwinder Kumar of Hoshiarpur and Harjeet Singh of Ludhiana, have been beheaded in Saudi Arabia on charges of murdering a fellow Indian. The two were executed on February 28 this year.

The Indian embassy in Riyadh, however, was not informed by the Saudi authorities before the executions. The families of the deceased may not get the bodies because of rules against it.

Harjeet and Satwinder killed Imamuddin after a scuffle broke out between them over distribution of some money they had looted. A few days later, the two were arrested for drinking liquor and fighting. While deportation formalities were being completed, they were found to be linked to the murder.

Indian duo were shifted to Riyadh jail for their trial

The details of the fate of Satwinder Kumar and Harjeet Singh were revealed by the foreign ministry after a petition was filed by Satwinder’s wife Seema Rani. In the letter, delivered to Seema on Monday, it was revealed that Satwinder and Harjeet were arrested on December 9, 2015 for allegedly killing Arif Imamuddin.

“They were shifted to Riyadh jail for trial and they confessed to their crime. The hearing of their case on May 31, 2017 was attended by an embassy official. At that time, the case file was transferred to an appeals court, with an additional charge of ‘hirabha (highway robbery that also invites capital punishment)’,” according to the MEA communication.

The letter, signed by Prakash Chand, director (consular), added that embassy officials used to visit the jail to know about the status of their trial. “But, both were executed on February 28, 2019 without informing the embassy. Several communications were made to the ministry of foreign affairs, Saudi Arabia, to get the mortal remains but Saudi system does not permit handing over the bodies of those executed to the embassy,” the letter said.