Tributes paid to Amitpal Singh Bajaj, killed at Centara Grand hotel in Phuket

PHOTO: Southall Sikh Temple

Tributes are being paid to the British father, Amitpal Singh Bajaj, who was reportedly attacked and killed trying to protect his family at a beach hotel in Phuket. The incident followed a next door guest reacting badly to a noise complaint and allegedly barging into the family room and attacking Amitpal.

Amitpal, from Southall in west London, was reported in Thai media to being attacked and beaten by a Norwegian man staying in the room next door at the Centara Grand Beach hotel on Karon Beach in Phuket.

Amitpal’s wife, Bandhna Kaur Bajaj, told police she and her husband had been kept awake by loud noises from the adjacent room early last Wednesday, and says that someone was trying to push open their balcony door. The couple were on holiday with their 2 year old son. Through a statement she said the Norwegian man “barged in through the balcony door”.

“My husband tried to block the man and move me and my son away. As the man was kicking, punching and just beating him up my husband told me to please leave and save our son.”

She said she ran from the hotel and hid with her son under a tree near the spa, where she called the Centara Grand reception for help. She learned of her husband’s death hours later after he was taken to Patong hospital at about 4am.

“My husband sacrificed his life to save my son’s life and mine. He will always be our hero.”

The Norwegian foreign ministry has confirmed that one of its citizens, named as 53 year old Roger Bullman, had been arrested and was being provided consular assistance, according to the BBC.

Meanwhile, the UK Foreign Office said that they were supporting the family of a British man following his death in Phuket.

Harmeet Singh Gill, the Southall Sikh temple’s general secretary told The Guardian that the community was “shocked and saddened” to learn of his death “while protecting his family. A memorial event was held at the temple last night.

“He was well-known, admired and respected in the community for his seva (voluntary work).”

SOURCE: The Guardian