Terlok Singh became the sixth Indian American or Indian citizen to die in convenience store attacks in the United States since 2015.
A Sikh American was found dead inside a convenience store he owned in East Orange, NJ, on Thursday morning in an apparent homicide.
The body of Park Delhi owner Terlok Singh, with wounds on his chest, was discovered by his cousin, and the Essex County Prosecutor’s office has termed the incident as a homicide, the local ABC affiliate reported.
Authorities have not disclosed “a motive or an official cause of the death,” the report said.
READ: Vikram Jaryal fifth Indian American, or Indian killed in US convenience store robberies in 2 years (April 8, 2017)
Singh, whose wife and children are in India, had been running the store for the past six years.
East Orange is roughly 20 miles to the west of Manhattan.
Singh became the sixth Indian American or Indian citizen to die in convenience store attacks in different parts of the United States since 2015.
Singh’s murder came just days after two Sikh Americans were assaulted in California.
READ: Sikh-owned convenience store attacked, ATM stolen; suspect charged with hate crime (March 8, 2018)
As the American Bazaar reported, Sahib Singh Natt, 71, was attacked in Manteca, on August 6, by two teens who allegedly demanded money. A surveillance video shows the suspects beating, kicking and spitting on Natt who fell to the ground.
One of the attackers was an estranged son of Union City Police Chief Darryl McAllister.
Chief McAllister penned a lengthy Facebook post after learning that his son was suspected of assaulting Natt.
READ: Two Sikh men brutally attacked in one-week span in central California (August 10, 2018)
On July 31, Sikh activist Surjit Malhi, 50, was attacked by two men in the Turlock area. Malhi was putting up campaign signs for Republican Congressman Jeff Denham who is running for re-election. He was ambushed by white supremacists who threw sand in his eyes before physically attacking him, and spray-painted ‘Go back to your country’ and a white nationalist symbol on his truck.
The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, better known as SALDEF noted on twitter that it was the third attack on Sikhs in three weeks:
“A Sikh man was killed today in his store. Marking the third assault on a Sikh in the past three weeks.”
A Sikh man was killed today in his store. Marking the third assault on a Sikh in the past three weeks. https://t.co/mCRVNHP1Fy
— SALDEF (@SALDEF) August 17, 2018
Singh’s murder came 16 months after Vikram Jaryal was killed inside a convenience store in Yakima, Washington.
Prior to that four other Indian Americans or Indian citizens were killed inside convenience store over a two-year period.
ALSO READ:
Another Indian shot dead in Washington state (April 8, 2017)
Indian American store owner shot dead outside his home in Lancaster, South Carolina (March 4, 2017)
Elderly Indian American couple shot dead in Ridgeland(August 19, 2015)
Two arrested in murder of Indian American store clerk in Arkansas Hardip Singh (July 1, 2015)
Two Indian Americans killed in Connecticut, Illinois, during robberies at gas stations (April 8, 2015)
Harnish Patel fourth Indian American killed in South Carolina in 23 months (March 4, 2015)