An "ongoing dispute" involving men from the Sikh and Hindu communities who were known to each other is believed to be behind the killing of three men in a street fight in east London over the weekend.
The three men, aged in their late 20s and 30s and of Punjabi origin, were found with serious stab wounds by emergency services on Sunday night and pronounced dead at the scene in Seven Kings area of Redbridge.
Scotland Yard's Specialist Crime Command launched a murder investigation and in its latest update on Tuesday said that while detectives are still working on formal identification of the murdered men, they do not believe the incident was gang or race related.
Two men, both aged 29, were arrested on suspicion of the murders remain in custody.
"We now believe all those involved were known to each other and from the Sikh and Hindu community, however we are still in the process of identifying the men and working to inform their next of kin," said Detective Chief Inspector Paul Considine, who is leading the investigation.
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"At this early stage, I do not believe this was gang or race-related. But, I believe there may have been an ongoing dispute between those involved. We believe the five men were involved in an altercation the previous evening (Saturday) at Krystel Banqueting that spilled out onto the High Road, he said.
The police are urging members of the community who know what the motivation for the attack could be or anyone who may have seen the altercation at Krystel Banqueting or the incident itself to contact them with information.
The three murdered men were builders who have been named locally as Narinder a.k.a. Nik Singh, Harinder a.k.a. Honey Kumar, and Baljit Singh.
According to the local media reports they had been embroiled in a fight at a wedding reception on Saturday night and the dispute may have been over unpaid building work in the area.
On Sunday, an eyewitness heard one victim screaming: "they killed me, help me before residents in the area called the ambulance and emergency services. Some images on social media show pools of blood in the aftermath of the stabbing.
"I got a call saying my brother had been stabbed. I went there and just saw him laying there. There was blood everywhere," Jasbal Singh, the brother of Nik Singh, told the Evening Standard.
"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," he said.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan visited the scene of the stabbings on Monday and called for more government funding to tackle knife crime in the city.
"The horrific triple stabbing in Seven Kings in Redbridge last night is a tragic reminder of the evil scourge of knife crime that continues to plague our entire country, he said.
Jas Athwal, the British Sikh leader of the local Redbridge Council of the area, who joined him at the site, said he believed the triple stabbings were an isolated incident involving the local Indian migrant community.
"I made it clear to the Mayor that things like this do not happen here. More must be done. We need more police now, he said.
The local Ilford South MP, Sam Tarry, also called for greater government funding into tackling the issue of knife crime.
"The government must now radically overhaul its approach by tackling the underlying causes, putting investment and resources where they're needed and addressing stabbings as a public health issue, if it is to put an end to the brutal scourge of knife crime once and for all, said the Labour Party MP.
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