A Sikh man, Rajvir Gill, who had previously run for a seat on the Bakersfield City Council in the United States was taken into custody for allegedly attempting to employ assassins to shoot individuals at a prominent Sikh temple in Bakersfield and set fire to the premises. This has intensified a long-standing dispute within the congregation’s leadership and led to legal action in Kern County Superior Court.
After receiving less than 7 per cent of the vote in Ward 7’s November election, 60-year-old Rajvir “Raj” Singh Gill was subject to a temporary restraining order preventing him from harassing the Gurudwara. Despite this, Bakersfield police arrested him on Saturday for allegedly soliciting to commit six criminal acts. Although he has since been released from jail, records indicate his arrest.
On Tuesday, a Gurudwara elder reported that Gill had been causing disturbances and making threats to members of the congregation while carrying a firearm at the temple property over the past few months. He had been arrested once before but there are no records of any other previous arrests prior to the incident on Saturday.
Sukhwinder Singh Ranghi, the elder, stated that the ongoing confrontations were due to a disagreement over a sum of over $800,000 that had been contributed by the congregation members. The funds were intended to reimburse a corporate entity established to purchase the temple out of foreclosure in July 2020.
According to Ranghi, Gill allegedly offered $10,000 to two Hispanic men to assassinate several leaders of the congregation, including Ranghi, who are currently involved in court cases. Ranghi also claimed that Gill personally drove the men around the city, indicating the homes of the targeted temple leaders. The information regarding Gill’s actions was disclosed to the temple leadership by an associate of the would-be assassins.
Ranghi alleged that Gill taught the men how to set fire to the temple using the defective electrical wiring that was installed by Gill’s own workers during the construction of the temple over ten years ago.
During a religious service at the temple, Ranghi presented a video clip that allegedly showed Gill unplugging microphones that were still in use.
Shaheed is among the most well-attended Sikh temples in Bakersfield, with over 500 members. Every year in late October, it holds a celebration that attracts thousands of attendees. Last fall, notable guests such as Rep. David Valadao, Mayor Karen Goh, Assemblyman Vince Fong, and Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner were in attendance.
According to court records, in 2019, when Shaheed was at risk of losing its property due to foreclosure proceedings, the temple’s leadership came up with a plan. The plan involved the board members forming a limited liability corporation, which would purchase the property at a public auction and subsequently transfer ownership back to the temple’s nonprofit organization.
However, the transfer of title back to the temple never occurred, and there are conflicting accounts as to why.
In October 2021, Shaheed’s nonprofit organization filed a lawsuit against Jujhar LLC, the entity formed to purchase the property, alleging that four of the eight individuals chosen to execute the transaction collaborated to manipulate the formation process of the LLC. The lawsuit claimed that the defendants concealed the limited composition of the board in accordance with a premeditated plan to “hostage” the property.
In January 2022, Jujhar filed a separate complaint accusing nine members of the congregation of falsely portraying themselves as acting board members of the temple, which led to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claimed that the defendants had taken $430,000 that was intended to be paid to Jujhar, contrary to the LLC agreement, and had used the funds for personal and other unsuitable expenditures. It also stated that the nine individuals had declined to deposit the money into escrow as promised, resulting in a loss of over $25,000 for Jujhar.
The court is currently reviewing and overseeing the consolidated cases, which are still pending.
Shaheed obtained a restraining order against Gill on November 21 from the Kern County Superior Court, which prohibited him from harassing or disrupting the temple’s peace or interfering with its routine activities. On February 14, Court Commissioner Gina Cervantes extended the order until April 15, when a hearing is scheduled to take place.
