Radio presenter attempted murder trial: Prisoner Jaspal Singh gives evidence about attempted murder of Harnik Singh

“You are one of the chosen ones.”

Those were the words business owner-turned-prisoner Jaspal Singh told the jury today that convinced him he had a role to play in the murder of South Auckland radio host Harnik Singh.

The Versa Radio co-founder was brutally attacked by a group of strangers after his arm was struck while standing in the driveway of his Wattle Downs home in December 2020, leaving him near death with dozens of stab wounds. He has courted controversy in the past among the more conservative Sikh sects due to his more liberal view of the religion.

But even though his hundreds of thousands of listeners are mostly overseas, a group of men in Auckland were so offended by his point of view that they decided he needed to die, the witness said today in the High Court in Auckland as he gave evidence against five of his former colleagues. . -The accused.

Prosecutor Luke Radich focused the witness on one former defendant in particular – a man whose name has been redacted and who is accused of planning and organizing the attempted murder.

Jaspal Singh, 42, said he first learned of the plan about a week before the attack after he was called to the other man’s home early in the morning. They were sitting alone in the home’s sunroom when the other man began discussing the plan.

“He said he wanted him (the radio presenter) gone,” Jaspal Singh testified. “He made all the arrangements,” he said.

“All you have to do is drive,” Jaspal Singh recalls the man telling him.

The witness said the initial plan involved a motorcycle with two other men approaching the radio announcer’s car, a getaway car he was driving, and a gun.

“It was a hit for Harnek Singh,” the witness told jurors, explaining that the mission was to take place before Christmas that year.

“I was shocked at the time,” he said of his initial reaction. “He sits, closes his eyes, and says, ‘You are one of the chosen ones.’ I believed him.

“I said yes’.”

Prosecutors said six men ended up stalking the radio presenter on the evening of December 23, 2020 as he returned home from a marathon four-hour broadcast at Papatoetoe Temple where his recording studio is located. Three of them, including Jaspal Singh, have pleaded guilty, while three other men are now on trial alongside the man whose name has been withheld.

The current defendants include Jobanpreet Singh, who is accused of direct participation in the attack; Gajraj Singh and Gurbinder Singh, who allegedly followed Harnik Singh in a Toyota Prius and offered encouragement or support to the attackers; and Supreet Singh, who is accused of being an accessory after the fact for allegedly welcoming two of the attackers to his home after the incident.

Jaspal Singh said he did not discuss the matter again until the morning before the attack, when he was running errands with the man, whose name was redacted, and was directed to stand on the side of the road.

“He said to me, ‘This is where Harnk works. There’s a right for him there. The job I told you about is happening tonight.’

But later that evening, Jaspal Singh said he learned the plan had changed and no longer involved a motorcycle or a gun.

That evening, he said, he met with the man, whose name has been redacted, and Basarvjeet Sidhu, 27, who pleaded guilty to attempted murder just days before the current trial began. He said the man, whose name was not mentioned, handed over a black bag.

“He told us: There are stolen plates (numbers) in the bag. The witness said: ‘There are knives and bats.’ (He said: ‘You are the chosen ones. You have to do the service.’” He patted us on the back.”

He said he was speechless, explaining that he believed he had been recruited to do something for the greater good.

“He told us that Nicky (the radio presenter’s pseudonym) should go, and that he should die,” Jaspal Singh said.

He noted that the meeting only lasted about 10 minutes, and the three men went their separate ways. But the witness said that later that night he met Sarvjit Sidhu, who was with a third man: Jobanpreet Singh, who is currently on trial.

Jaspal Singh said they opened the bag, examined its contents – a bat, a stick and several knives of different sizes – and replaced the number plates on his SUV.

The three then piled into their black Ford Explorer and drove to the radio broadcaster’s studio, parked their cars on a side street and listened live to the program, so damned good.

“We were listening…to see when it would end,” Jaspal Singh explained.

It wouldn’t be long until the trio, along with two other vehicles, followed Harnik Singh to his home and unleashed a torrent of violence on him, according to the timeline prosecutors had already alleged. However, today’s witness testimony was cut short as jurors were sent home immediately at 5pm.

Jaspal Singh is expected to continue his story when the trial resumes before Judge Mark Woolford and the jury tomorrow morning.

Craig Capitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. Joined Announce in 2021 and has reported on the courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the United States and New Zealand.