Three men murdered in east London were killed in a row about not being paid for work, it has been claimed.
Harinder Kumar, 22, Narinder Singh, 26, and Baljit Singh, 34, were identified locally as the victims of the stabbing near Seven Kings station in Ilford.
They were killed in a fight allegedly sparked by a dispute over money owed for construction work.
Speaking to the Evening Standard Narinder Singh’s brother Jasbal said: “There was blood everywhere. I shouted “Wake up, wake up” but it was no good. I had lost him. He was a great brother and a popular guy with no enemies. I am devastated. I have lost not only my brother but a best friend I lived with. I don’t know how this could have happened. We were so close, my heart is broken.”
Mr Kumar’s cousin paid tribute to him saying: “Harinder was a lovely, fun guy who was best friends with Narinder, who was also killed. They both worked as builders and had only been in the country for about three years. Sunday was Harinder’s one day off in the week. He knew all the other men that were there when he was killed. They all worked and socialised together. They’d been out drinking like they normally do on a Sunday. I’ve heard that they got into a row over money.” Officers responded to reports of a disturbance in Elmstead Road, Seven Kings, at 7.38pm where all three men were pronounced dead at the scene.
Two men, aged 29 and 39, have been arrested on suspicion of murder.
Speaking at the scene, Chief Superintendent Stephen Clayman said the suspects and the victims were all known to each other.
"We believe the groups involved are members of the Sikh community. A fight has taken place which has escalated, resulting in three people being fatally attacked."
Officers are still contacting members of the deceased men's families, he said.
"It was a horrific scene for anyone to come across and my heart goes out to the families and those affected by it, because it is unprecedented to have something like this," he said.
While they are still investigating a motive, police have ruled out terrorism, he said.
Formal identification of the victims has yet to take place, and post-mortem examinations have also yet to be arranged.
Jas Athwal, leader of Redbridge Council, said he believed it was an isolated incident.
He was quoted as saying: “An incident like this is unheard of within the Sikh community here in Redbridge. I think tragically there are at least three families who are going to be in mourning and this is going to last a lifetime for the people left behind. We've got to look at the causes of why this happened and address those."
He was also critical of bloody footage shared on social media appearing to show the aftermath of the killings.
He said: ‘I think the first response should be “What can we do to help?”. To put it on social media is not right.”
