Four Indian nationals injured in fracas

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Four Indian nationals suffered stab injuries in an altercation evening of June 13, 2023 in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

Wounded were Dhaliwal Parvinder Singh, 40; Kulwant Singh, 23; and Kamlpreet Singh, 23, all residents of Anaros Subdivision in Barangay Guzman-Jesena, Mandurriao; and Azadwinder Singh, 35, of JMI Subdivision, also in Guzman-Jesena. Except for their nationality, police have yet to establish if they are related.

Captain Val Alan Cambel, Iloilo City Police Station 5 chief, said investigation is still going on to determine who among the four should be classified as suspect or victim.

At around 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, the police station received a call from a JMI Subdivision resident of noises emanating from a house occupied by one of the Indian nationals.

When police responded, they saw a wounded Azadwinder walking on the street. He sustained a stab injury on the chest.

Cambel said they did not exactly know what happened since Azadwinder did not speak the local language and is also not that fluent in English.

Azadwinder was subsequently taken to The Medical City for treatment

“We had to find an interpreter to understand what he was saying,” Cambel said.

While attending to Azadwinder, police received a call from three other Indian nationals who also sustained stab wounds.

Dhaliwal Parvinder suffered an incise wound on his left arm while Kulwant sustained a stab wound on the right side of his body.

Kamlpreet suffered two stab wounds on the back.

They were all taken to Western Visayas Medical Center.

Just like Azadwinder, they were also not fluent in the local language or English.

But investigation indicated that the three Indian nationals went to Azadwinder’s house to confront him. They accused Azadwinder of being rude over the phone to a minor.

“We don’t know exactly anong klase nga pambastos,” Cambel said.

They initially talked with the three Indian nationals outside his gate while Azadwinder was on the other side.

CCTV footage later showed that Azadwinder went out and was met with a punch by one of his three fellow nationals.

The fight went to the other side of the property which was out of the CCTV range.

Cambel said the three Indian nationals accused Azadwinder of stabbing them.

“For now, we knew that it was the group of three who provoked the attack,” he said.

As this developed, Cambel said he would ask the four Indian nationals to present their passports to verify if they are legally staying in the country.