Monday, March 28 2005 20:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: A Non-Resident Indian has been stabbed to death and two of his friends injured in a brawl outside the venue of a Punjabi folk dance show, police said today (Mar 28, 2005).

Ranjit Singh, 20, who immigrated from Punjab to the US only two years ago, was stabbed at the Old Post Office Pavilion, a retail and office space at 11th street and Pennsylvania Avenue, five blocks from the White House yesterday (Mar 27).

The fight broke outside the building shortly before the annual 'Bhangra Blowout' organised by George Washington University Students was to end at 3 AM.

A man of either Latin American or Indian ethnicity, wearing a white shirt and braces in his teeth, pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed Singh. Two friends of Singh pursued the attacker until they were stabbed by him at 12th and Pennsylvania, police said adding the assailant escaped in a green car.

Sgt Joe Gentile, a police spokesman, said he did not know the extent of their injuries or the cause of the fight.

Singh's family members said Ranjit had decided to leave New Jersey Friday night for some events.

From his family home in New Jersey, his brother Manjit Singh said that Ranjit immigrated to the US two years ago from Punjab and worked seven days a week, and even some nights, as a convenience store clerk.

This weekend was the first time he had taken a break. "I just can't believe this has happened," Manjit said. "He never goes anywhere. He is just always working, working."