"He is only 28, it was his bad luck": Family of Indian origin truck driver arrested in the US road accident

“He is only 28, it was his bad luck,” said the family and the village of Indian-Irigin truck Harjinder Singh, who stared at a possible 45-year imprisonment because he allegedly caused a deadly accident in the US. As they gather behind him and ask for a soft punishment, a campaign was also started online to generate support for the 28-year-old manager of Rataul Village in the Tarn Taran district Punjab. Here’s what happened to Harjinder Singh, 28, is facing charges of vehicle murder in the US for allegedly causing an accident on August 12, resulting in the death of three people on a highway in Florida on August 12, according to a media report. He drove with a tractor wagon and allegedly took an illegal U-turn. After the accident, he fled to California, but brought back to Florida after the arrest, the New York Post reports on Thursday. More than a week after the incident, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a break for all issuance of the visas for commercial trucks. The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor wagons on US roads are at risk of American lives and undermine the livelihoods of American trucks, Rubio, on social media. Punjab leaders say: Punjab Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora wrote to the Union government and insisted in the case related to the frozen work visas for foreign truck drivers, especially Punjabis, with the US government. In his letter sent on Saturday, Arora mentions that the step the US government took after the Florida highway accident involved a Punjabi origin driver jeopardized the 1.5 Lakh Punjabi drivers livelihood. He called on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Indian Embassy to start a dialogue with the US government, saying that the entire Punjabi community was being punished on the basis of one incident. Earlier, Shiromani Akali Dal -LP of Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, urged the Foreign Minister Jaishankar to ensure that the counselor’s access was provided to Harjinder so that his case could be appropriately pleaded. Badal also requested the center to record the issue of freezing visas of all foreign truck drivers by the US to the fatal accident. She also urged Jaishankar to transfer to the US government that the Punjabi community played an important role in meeting the big demand for managers and to alleviate the tensions of driver shortages on US consumers and its economy. Meanwhile, a petition was created on an online platform change.org by a group – the collective Punjabi youth, in which he asked for a reduced sentence for Harjinder, arguing that the tragic accident was not a deliberate act. While liability is of interest, the seriousness of the charges against him is not in line with the circumstances of the incident, it states. It received more than 18 Lakh signatures in its support. Here’s what Harjinder Singh’s family and town said: Dilbagh Singh, one of his family members, said that Harjinder’s family was unable to speak anything. “The family is in shock,” he said. “We are also saddened by the death of three people in the accident. Similar incidents also occurred earlier,” Dilbagh told reporters in Tarn Taran. “His age is 28 years old, and if he gets 45 years in prison, you can imagine what the condition of his family will be,” he added while calling on the Sikh bodies to come forward to help Harjinder help. He said Harjinder left for the US after connecting his country in 2018. Harjinder’s older brother, Tejinder Singh, lives with his family and their mother in Tarn Taran. Their father is no longer, and the family is working on farming. Many residents in Rataul Village supported Harjinder and called him a hardworking person. Although they acknowledged that Harjinder made a mistake, they demanded that the US authorities not award hard punishment. The town of Sarpanch Jashandeep Singh said they were standing with the family and called on Harjinder for no hard punishment. An elderly villager also urged the US government to show indulgence against Harjinder. “It was his bad luck that such an accident happened,” he said. Another villager said Harjinder didn’t do it intentionally. The accidents do happen, he said. Although it was his mistake to make a U-turn, he should not receive any hard punishment; Otherwise his entire life would be ruined, he said. (With Pti inputs)