#Lahore : Police in northwestern Pakistan on Monday arrested six people accused of gunning down a Sikh political figure, attributing the killing to rivalry rather than a Taliban attack, as claimed by the militants.“We have arrested six people, including a member of the Sikh community Buldev Singh,” Azad Khan, a senior police official, told reporters in Peshawar, capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“During initial investigations, Buldev and other people acknowledged their involvement in the murder of Soran Singh .”
The killing followed a dispute over the distribution of party tickets in local elections, Khan said. Soran was a senior member of Khan’s party and an adviser to the provincial chief minister on minority affairs.
“Soran reportedly refused a party ticket to Buldev, which enraged him and he hired assassins to kill Soran,” the police official added.
Reuters was not able to immediately reach representatives of Buldev’s family for comment.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility soon after the shooting, saying they would continue attacks until their strict interpretation of Islamic law was enforced across Pakistan.
However, police official Khan rejected the claim as false, saying: “The Taliban aren’t behind this murder.”
Religious minorities make up about two percent of Pakistan’s population of 190 million, government data shows, and religiously motivated violence against them has become increasingly common.
An Easter Sunday bombing targeting Christians in a public park in Lahore killed 72 people last month. By Agencies.
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