The abduction and death of Avtar Singh last week has left a significant absence at the local Sikh congregation he served for the past 23 years.

Singh was a constant presence at Gurdwara Gur Nanak Parkash – Damdani Taksal, on Grant Line Road. He was the head cook for all events large and small, be they daily prayer meetings, special events, or weekend-long prayers in the local Sikh temple.

Deep Singh, one of the leaders at the local congregation, said 57-year-old Avtar Singh led a life of service to the people who attend prayers and services at the Gurdwara. The Sikh temple has been a fixture on Grant Line Road since 1998 and is under expansion, with a new 28,965-square-foot assembly hall now under construction just west of the existing temple.

Deep Singh explained that Avtar Singh became involved in Damdani Taksal, the India-based cultural and spiritual institution that has established Sikh congregations worldwide, in 1988. After visiting California a few times in the late 1990s Avtar moved to Tracy in 2003 and joined Gurdwara Gur Nanak Parkash.

“Over there, he used to get the scriptures printed, do the proofreading, and then get the printing done, all the logistics,” Deep Singh said. “Since he started here in 2003 he was more into the cooking and serving the community with that.”

“He was our head cook here, but he was multi-talented. He was not only the cook, he was our carpenter, he was our plumber, he was our electrician. We can make him fit anywhere and he always had a solution.”

Deep Singh describes Avtar’s role at the Gurdwara as more than a profession, but a dedication to a life of service.

“It was just a selfless life towards the community. Every weekend we hold a 48-hour long prayer, starting every Friday, and then finishing up on Sunday, the continuous reading of the Sikh holy scripture.”

Avtar was there to prepare meals for the duration of these events, whether it was for a couple dozen or a couple thousand. Attendance on a weekend can typically be 1,200 to 1,500 worshippers, though the commercial kitchen on the site is equipped to prepare meals for more than three times that many. The Gurdwara will feed anyone who shows up at the site at no cost.

Deep Singh said the Gurdwara would also provide food for statewide emergencies, such as wildfires where they would feed emergency responders as well as people who are evacuated. He also prepared meals when the Gurdwara was a center for COVID testing and vaccinations.

Avtar Singh married in his 40s, and 7 months ago he and his wife welcomed triplets, two boys and a girl, into their family, and the Gurdwara recently held a celebration in honor of the children.

Deep Singh added that Avtar worked for no pay and kept few possessions. For his service the Gurdwara provided him with a home, similar to what the Gurdwara will provide to priests and others who make up the leadership core of the congregation.

“The main thing is that he was so dedicated. He had no wish to be in front of the camera or to be appreciated in front of the people. So he was always in the back,” he said. “Any problem he had the solution. If I tell him, ‘Avtar, this is what happened,’ (he replied) “Don’t worry, brother. We’ll find a solution.’”

Last week’s incident

While there are usually people around Gurdwara Gur Nanak Parkash throughout the day, including construction crews working on the new temple, nobody at the site last Tuesday saw Avtar involved in a struggle with the three men who abducted him in the middle of the afternoon.

“There were people coming and going, but with the rain most people were inside,” said Harry Dhillon, another community leader at the Gurdwara as he described the video from a security camera that recorded the incident. The rain prompted the construction crews to leave at about 1 p.m., and everyone else at the Gurdwara was indoors when the white SUV arrived at Avtar’s house.

The video shows the white SUV pull up at about 2:30 p.m. and one man gets out of the car and knocks on a couple of doors before Avtar, who was at home with the triplets while his wife was at work at Amazon, opened the door to talk to them.

The men apparently were looking for another man who had been to the temple before, and Avtar made a phone call to another young man who lives at the temple and has a similar name to the man they were looking for to see if he knew anything about the situation. It became apparent that the man the three suspects were looking for was not there, and Avtar and the other young man knew nothing about why anyone would be looking for the other man.

The video then shows the suspects assaulting Avtar to try to force him into the white car, and he continued to resist, trying to escape, before the suspects finally drive away with Avtar in the car. The car can be seen heading east toward Byron Road after leaving the Gurdwara. The situation unfolded over the course of about 10 to 12 minutes, and nobody else from the temple was outdoors at the time or in a place where they could see what had happened.

It wasn’t until Avtar’s wife came home at about 6:30 p.m. and found the triplets in the house by themselves that anyone was aware that Avtar was gone. After looking around the property the others at the Gurdwara checked the video from the security camera, saw what happened, and called the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office to report the abduction. The Sheriff’s Office reportedly got the call at about 8:52 p.m.

Deep Singh said that the Sheriff’s Office investigators worked through Tuesday night, including aerial surveillance on Wednesday morning, to see if they could detect a signal from Avtar’s phone.

Over the next 3 days social media pages, including news agencies and religious groups out of India, posted information about the abduction. On Friday morning the Napa County Sheriff’s Office investigated a report of a body found along Highway 128 near Lake Berryessa.

Once the coroner from Napa County tentatively identified the person the Napa County Sheriff’s Office notified investigators from the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office that this could be the missing man they were looking for, and turned the case over to San Joaquin County authorities.

On Sunday morning San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow and District Attorney Ron Freitas, with Supervisor Robert Rickman, visited the Gurdwara to express condolences for the congregation’s loss, and assure them of the progress they’ve made in the investigation.

“Our investigation is going very, very well, as far as identifying the people who did this and holding them accountable,” Withrow said. “This is an ongoing investigation, so we don’t want to say a whole lot to do anything that might damage that and risk holding these people accountable to the fullest account of the law. But know that we are working day and night, as I said, to bring these people to justice.”

Frietas said that it’s clear early on that Avtar was not connected to any criminal activity prior to his abduction, and didn’t know anyone who would have been involved in criminal activity.

“I’m here today to let you know that we intend to find and convict those who committed this heinous act of violence,” Freitas said. “My attorneys and investigators have been working side-by-side with the sheriff’s office from the initiation of this investigation.

“While I cannot speak specifically to the facts of this crime, I want you to know that Avtar … was a completely innocent bystander. and was in no way responsible for the evil that came to him.”

• Contact Bob Brownne at brownne@tracypress.com, or call (209) 830-4227.