By IANS
New York : Two Indian American brothers have been shot dead in their restaurant in San Francisco East Bay area.
Unidentified gunmen killed Ravinder and Paramjit Kalsi, who hailed from Patiala in Punjab, Thursday in a seemingly random act just when they were closing the Sahib Indian Restaurant in the Richmond neighbourhood.
Two suspects, whom police described as Latino or Asian, approached the restaurant door and shot Ravinder, 30, as he let them in. The suspects then chased Paramjit, 42, into the rear of the restaurant and shot him before fleeing from the scene.
The restaurant was not robbed.
“The motive is completely unknown,” said Lt. Mark Gagan, who, along with other Richmond police officers, were regulars at the Sikh brothers’ restaurant, San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday.
The East Bay Sikh community was stunned and enraged at the news.
“These were the most gracious, hardworking and spiritual guys,” said Gurman Bal, the brothers’ former roommate in Berkeley and a fellow member of the Sikh temple in El Sobrante.
In a typical American dream story, the two brothers had arrived in the US penniless and achieved middle class affluence. Carpenters in India, they did construction work in Berkeley for several years until they saved enough to buy a house.
They bought, renovated and sold or leased several houses over the years, eventually earning enough to open their restaurant and regularly send money home to India.
Friends and customers of the brothers held a vigil at the restaurant Friday night and plan to hold a prayer service at the local Sikh temple Sunday.