California detective ponders over link between gurudwara massacre and unsolved murder case of 2 Sik

Washington, Aug 18 (ANI): In the wake of the tragic shooting at a Sikh temple in the US earlier this month, a California detective has raised the possibility that an unsolved murder case of two Sikh men there last year may be linked to the Oak Creek massacre in Wisconsin.

Detective Kevin Papineau has been investigating the shootings of two Sikh men on March 4, 2011, in which Surinder Singh and Gurmej Atwal, who were on a routine stroll around their neighborhood, were suddenly gunned down, following which Singh died at the scene, while Atwal managed to hang on for six weeks in a local hospital before passing away.

"Given the fact they're Sikh, there's that possibility. I've been in contact with FBI agents to try to rule in or rule out any possible connection. They're looking into it and we haven't made any progress toward ruling it in or out yet," Papineau told ABC News.

After white supremacist gunman Wade Michael Page killed six Sikhs in the Oak Creek temple on August 5, Papineau decided to alert the FBI about the possibility that the two incidents might be connected, the report said.

"It's unsolved. It's active, although the leads and tips to follow up on are kind of starting to run out. We're kind of stumped by it," he added.

However, authorities in Oak Creek do not believe that there is any connection between the two incidents.

"From what I know of the situation I find it very unlikely. They may be trying to connect it, but I don't think there's anything there," a police official said. (ANI)