Former Khalistan leader stabbed to death in Illinois

PEORIA, Illinois: Satwinder Singh Bhola, 52, who came to the United States decades ago to seek asylum met a bloody fate early Monday just outside his apartment, according to local media.

Bhola was a spokesperson of All India Sikh Student Federation at the peak of militancy in Punjab.
Following operation Blue Star in Amritsar, he served a two-year jail sentence. After being released from the jail, Bhola moved to California and from there he moved to Chicago where he was in the hotel business.
He was a son-in-law of Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa, who is on hunger strike in Punjab demanding the release of 82 Sikhs lodged in various jails of the country.

Bhola was stabbed several times during an altercation in the parking lot adjacent to his complex, but a severe neck wound ultimately killed him.

He had more than $2,000 cash in his pocket that was not taken during the attack.

Autopsy results showed an incise wound to the neck more than 8 inches in length proved to be lethal, according to Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll. Bhola bled out at the scene.

Police responded at 12:02 a.m. Monday to the apartment complex in the 2900 block of Cannes Drive for calls of yelling and commotion outside one of the buildings. They found Bhola in one of the parking lots, according to a news release from the Peoria Police Department.

Bhola owned the Griswold Grocery & Liquor store, 1814 S. Griswold St., and a hotel in Annawan, where his wife lives, according to authorities.