Friday, December 6

Sikh temple Gurdwara Baba Deep Singh Ji Khalsa Darbar, Bakersfield works hard to involve our younger generation, promote their participation in the Sangat in its authentic form, and enable them to undergo transformation as a result.

Gurudwara sikh
Credit: The Canadian Parvasi

Rajvir Raj Singh Gill, 60, a former Bakersfield City Council candidate, was detained before being released for attempting to hire hit men to shoot gurdwara members last weekend in a dispute over $800,000 (roughly 6.56 crore), donated by the congregation, to pay back a corporate entity set up to recoup the cost of purchasing it out of foreclosure in July 2020.

 A metamorphosis that would enable them to face life’s journey with their heads held high and steadfast faith in the presence of Guru and Waheguru both within and outside of them. The Faith that will help them resist temptations and obstacles that the external world loves to throw at us. We recognise the Guru and the Guru’s Sangat as being supportive of us and ask for their ongoing blessings.

Kern County, California, contains the city of Bakersfield.

According to the police, Gill has been charged with six charges of soliciting to commit a crime and was placed under a temporary restraining order not to harass the temple. Gill was arrested on Saturday.

Gill has already been freed from custody, according to records.

Gill had received less than 7% of the vote in the Ward 7 election last November. Sukhwinder Singh Ranghi, a temple elder, claims that Gill has visited the Gurudwara recently, interfering with religious ceremonies, posing as a threat to the crowd, and carrying a gun. At one point, Gill was apprehended. His arrest before Saturday is not documented anywhere.

The conflicts, according to Ranghi, were caused by a disagreement over more than $800,000 (6.56 crore), donated by congregation members, which was intended to pay back a corporate entity established to repurchase the temple from foreclosure in July 2020.

Through a translator, Ranghi remarked, “It was probably greed that got to him.

Bakersfield.com was unable to contact Gill for comment.

Manpreet Kaur, a city councilwoman who was elected last year and occasionally visits the temple on Panama Lane to pray, claimed to be aware of the restraining order against Gill but to be unclear of the specifics of the dispute. The accusations against him, in her words, are incomprehensible.

Very heartbreaking, I tell you. It is. According to bakersfield.com, she stated, “It’s terrifying, and I just hope the neighbourhood stays secure.”

The possible motivation for Gill’s actions was not discussed by a spokesman for the Bakersfield Police Department. The police gave no further details about the incident.

The Sikh elder claimed that Gill paid two Hispanic men $10,000 to assassinate congregational elders, including Ranghi, who were involved in legal disputes.

 He claimed that while driving the men around the city, Gill pointed out the residences of the temple leaders he wanted assassinated. An associate of the intended hit men provided the temple leadership with this knowledge.

Ranghi claimed that Gill had told the guys how to use the defective wiring that his own workmen had placed when the temple was being built more than a decade ago to set the temple on fire.

Ranghi played a clip of the alleged film in which Gill is seen unplugging microphones that were still in operation during a temple service.

A Sikh leader was charged for Destroying Gurudwara - Asiana Times
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