Opinion:
Suspicious death
We, sikhs are concerned and want to know why the
other occupants of the car were released so early in the investigation.
Police said Singh allegedly became violent and other occupants
of the vehicle restrained him. After a short time, Singh became
unresponsive.
Actually, some papers report that he died after a physical confrontation
in the vehicle and most of the media say- this is a suspicious
death, said one sikh, who did not want to be identified .......Surinder
Singh, VA
NRI Sikh,
Simran Singh, 21, student's suspicious death, Arlington Police
Investigating
ARLINGTON, VA, Aug, 12, 2007
Darshan Singh
The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery
Unit are investigating a suspicious death that occurred in a vehicle
in the early morning at approximately 1:20 am on August 4, 2007
Simran Singh, 21, of Burke, was a passenger in a car, traveling
with four other people, southbound on I-395 from Washington, D.C.
into Arlington. Mr. Singh, who knew the other occupants of the
vehicle, reportedly became violent while the vehicle was in motion.
The other occupants responded to Mr. Singh’s behavior by
restraining him. After a short period of time, they noticed that
Mr. Singh was not responsive.
The driver of the car pulled to the side of the highway in Arlington
and 911 was called. The driver performed CPR on Mr. Singh until
medical personnel arrived. Mr. Singh was taken to Inova Alexandria
Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 2:09 am.
Arlington detectives immediately began investigating the incident
and the investigation is ongoing. The cause of death has not yet
been determined and no criminal charges have been filed. Their
names were not released.
A spokesman for Mr. Singh's family yesterday said relatives of
Mr. Singh are following the investigation closely.
The family called in the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education
Fund. The group, said spokesman Rajbir Singh Datta, had received
dozens of calls from Sikhs across the region who knew the family
and were alarmed by the circumstances.
Datta said the family was initially told that Singh was accidentally
suffocated and were relieved to hear police characterize the death
as suspicious. They feel skeptical, he said, adding that Singh
had been out with one of the people in the car on Thursday and
had come home bruised and "was acting scared and shaken up,"
he said.
Arora said Singh knew only that one person of the four in the
vehicle, a friend from Woodson High School who had become a Marine
and gone to Iraq.
Simran was a student at George Mason University.
"It may take several weeks for the medical examiner’s
report before the cause of death is determined," said Detective
Steve Gomez of the department’s media office.
