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Police to Update Community on Sikh Murders

The Elk Grove Police Department will hold a press conference Wednesday to discuss their investigation into the March shooting of Gurmej Atwal and Surinder Singh.

 

The Elk Grove Police Department will hold a press conference Wednesday to update the community on their investigation into the shooting deaths of two Sikh men on East Stockton Blvd last spring.

"We don't have a suspect," said department spokesperson Christopher Trim. "There is some additional information we're going to be putting out, and we're going to be asking for the public's help in solving this crime."

Trim noted that it's been almost a year since Surinder Singh, 65, and Gurmej Atwal, 78, were gunned down as they went for an afternoon walk. Singh died at the scene of the March 4 shooting, Atwal several weeks later.

The two men, both from the northern Indian state of Punjab, were wearing turbans at the time of the shooting. That and the lack of other obvious motives for the killings of the two elderly Elk Grove residents have led police to investigate the murders as a possible hate crime.

In October, the victims' family members and other volunteers held a day of action to draw attention to the still-unsolved case. Community members and law enforcement have collected over $50,000 in reward money for anyone with information leading to an arrest.

The press conference will take place at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday in the City Council Chambers, 8400 Laguna Palms Way. It is open to all.

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Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Punjab was in the south of India. In fact, as a reader kindly pointed out, it lies in the northern part of that country. Elk Grove Patch apologizes for the error.

Related Topics: Gurmej Atwal, Hate Crime, Sikh murders, and Surinder Singh

Randeep Hoti

10:13 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012

Punjab is in northern india/pakistan, not southern india

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Felicia Mello

9:09 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Yes, another reader pointed that out as well. Thanks for noticing! We've corrected it and added a note to the story.

jas

11:51 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Hello can you put up any info on the balbir dhami murder in elk grove on may 19,2011

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EGPD_PIO

9:09 am on Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Good Morning,

The homicide investigation of Balbir Dhami is being investigated by the Sacramento Police Department since the event took place in the City of Sacramento.

Officer Christopher Trim
Public Information Officer
Elk Grove Police Department
(916) 627-3709

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