THE STABBING of a man at Birmingham’s Vaisakhi celebrations last month was linked to the recent elections at a local temple, police have said.
The 44-year-old was stabbed three times in the chest at the Vaisakhi Mela celebrations in Birmingham’s Handsworth Park on 22 April.
The normally peaceful event was brought to an abrupt end when fighting broke out.
Detectives investigating the stabbing say the issue is about “power and control” at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in nearby Smethwick.
The stabbed man is believed to be a former president at the temple.
Four men have already been charged with attempted murder over the incident.
Ch Supt Andrew Jenkins said: “Our experience of Vaisakhi is they tend to be quite peaceful events albeit with an awful lot of people there.
“I think it would not be unreasonable to assume that this stabbing was pretty much directly related to the forthcoming election at the temple.
“It is an issue about power and control at the temple.”
Amandeep Singh, 31, of Walsall, Avtar Singh Thandi, 28, of Birmingham, a 17-year-old from Smethwick, and a 59-year-old man, from Oldbury have already been charged in relation to the incident.
