Author: PTI
Publication: The Times of India
Date: February 21, 2010
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistani-Taliban-behead-2-Sikhs/articleshow/5600667.cms
Two Sikhs who were kidnapped over a month
back have been beheaded by the Pakistani Taliban in the country's restive
tribal belt in a brutal act by the militants.
Some more members of the minority community
are still in the custody of the rebels.
The body of Jaspal Singh was found in the
Khyber tribal region, located a short distance from the provincial capital
of Peshawar, while the body of Mahal Singh was found in the Aurakzai Agency,
sources said on Sunday night
There was confusion about the total number
of Sikhs who were kidnapped for ransom from the Bara area of Khyber Agency
by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. A source said four Sikhs were abducted while
another report said the total number of kidnapped persons was six.
The Sikhs were kidnapped 34 days ago and the
Taliban had demanded Rs 30 million as ransom for their release. Two of the
kidnapped Sikhs were beheaded after the expiry of the deadline for the payment
of the ransom, sources said.
Gurvinder Singh and Gurjit Singh are still
in the custody of the militants, sources said.
The kidnapping occurred in an area where there
the government has virtually no control and the militants are in a dominant
position, sources said.
A sizeable number of Sikhs lived in the tribal
belt, particularly Aurakzai Agency, till the Taliban imposed 'jiziya' or religious
tax on them last year. Most members of the community then fled to cities across
Pakistan.
