In the hallowed halls of Auckland’s High Court, a trial is taking shape. The accused stands behind an invisible veil of court-ordered identity protection, facing daunting charges of planning to assassinate prominent radio presenter Harnek Singh.
It all began in 2015. Avtar Singh, a young bodybuilder with ambitions cast far from courtroom dramas, was manipulated by an older man into believing the outspoken radio host was a menace that urgently needed silencing. Avtar provided an account of a strange errand – he was sent to purchase an axe from Bunnings Warehouse. A misstep he admits, referring to the moment with evident regret. His plans were sidelined after a friend observed the weapon and advised him to leave it behind, thus abruptly dissuading Avtar from his half-conceived mission.
Nonetheless, five years later, Harnek Singh was thrust into an egregious attack. On a silent December night in 2020, near his residence in Wattle Downs, a group of strangers executed a near-fatal assault on the radio host. They rammed into his ute and left him for dead with numerous stab wounds, almost causing him to bleed to death. The prosecutors have made a connection and now argue that the mastermind of this heinous act is the very same unnamed man currently on trial, the same man who had once convinced Avtar Singh to act violently.
The defendant isn’t alone in the docket. Accompanied by a quartet of co-defendants – Jobanpreet Singh, Jagraj Singh, Gurbinder Singh, and Sukhpreet Singh – each of them stand accused of playing varying roles in the savage attack on Harnek Singh’s life.
During heated cross-examinations, defense lawyer Dale Dufty endeavoured to sever the ties between the unnamed defendant and the alleged conspiracies. Speaking to Avtar Singh, he probed: “[He] didn’t tell you to buy the axe, did he?”. Avtar responded, saying the instruction was more covert than overt, with the unnamed man repeatedly hinting that Harnek Singh needed to be dealt with.
In his testimonial, Baljinder Singh, 42, alleged that the unnamed defendant had tried to recruit him a week before the attack on Harnek Singh. Dufty pointed out inconsistency in his statements, implying that fear had skewed his first testimony. He challenged the witness saying that his claims seemed to be created out of a personal vendetta against the unnamed man – a suggestion swiftly denied by Singh.
As the tangled web of testimonies continues to unfurl amidst a cloud of uncertainty, justice takes its time. The trial stands adjourned and is due to resume Monday. It remains to be seen what new revelations the next session of the court will bring.
