PATIALA: A Punjabi financier was shot and killed by unidentified persons in Manila in the Philippines on August 10. This is the fourth incident of its kind in the past year, leaving many in the Punjabi community in Manila worried.Swaran Singh belonged to Chak Khurd village near Malerkotla town in Sangrur and had migrated to the Philippines more than a decade back. He had set up a financing firm and a travel agency there.His family members in Punjab say that two assailants pumped seven bullets into him while he was on his way to work. Balwant Singh, a resident of Chak Khurd, said Swaran had taken his son to Manila some years ago. The boy was at home when the attack took place. His wife, mother and daughter had stayed back in Punjab. The highly lucrative money-lending business in the Philippines attracts a large number of Indians, especially Punjabis, because of high interest rates there. In the process, many of them have been at the receiving end of violent crime including kidnappings, lootings, threats to life and even murder.Among the four murders this year, a man from Jhandiana Sharki village in Moga was murdered in May. He was also shot and killed by two men on a motorbike. On July 3, moneylender Jaswinder Dhaliwal was murdered in North Cotabato. On July 17, Harjinder Singh, a resident of Bahua village in Nawanshahr, was murdered by a relative in Manila. He was also a financier.On March 10, a 53-yearold Indian woman involved in a moneylending scheme was shot dead by a lone gunman on the doorstep of her house in Caloocan City.Balwant Singh said Punjabis settled in Manila had called up to give details about the murder to the family, leaving them in a state of shock. It was confirmed that the attack on Swaran had not been carried out as part of a robbery as the cops had had recovered a bag with cash and personal belongings, including his wrist watch, purse and some jewelry.The family has contacted relatives in Manila and requested them to arrange for the body to be sent back to India for the cremation. Sinda Singh, another villager, said that they were also trying to get in touch with the Indian high commission in Manila through the Union ministry for external affairs to ensure that the family gets Swaran’s body.

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