Gurdeep Singh was shot dead in New York on Friday night. (Photo Credit: Special Arrangement)“We sent our son to the US when he was only 16-and-a-half. Now, 12 years later, we are waiting for his body,” Pyara Lal, a daily-wage worker in Kapurthala, told The Indian Express on Monday.Pyara Lal’s son, Gurdeep Singh, had left Punjab as a teenager through the perilous ‘donkey’ route, after the family borrowed around Rs 30 lakh to send him to the United States.Gurdeep was shot dead in New York on Friday night while reportedly on his way to deliver a pizza.Father Pyara Lal said Gurdeep “entered the US border from the Mexico side, where he was kept in a detention centre for over a year. He was allowed to attend school as he was a minor then. When he became an adult, he went to New York to people known to us, who looked after him for some time and got him small jobs. He then started working in pizza delivery a few years ago.”“In the US, even after entering illegally, one is allowed to contest one’s case for getting permanent residency; that’s why he was living there for the past decade and allowed to work,” he added.As Gurdeep’s immigration case was still pending, his family said he could not return to India.Back home, however, his parents had begun preparing for his return. They had already seen a girl for Gurdeep and were hoping he would come to Punjab early next year to get married. That future disappeared in a matter of minutes on Friday night.What happened on FridayGurdeep was working as a pizza delivery worker in New York. At around 10.30 pm local time, he was reportedly riding his motorcycle to deliver a pizza when another vehicle came behind him.According to information conveyed to the family by his employer, Gurdeep was returning after delivering a pizza when the incident took place. He was confronted by armed assailants, apparently during an attempted robbery. The family said Gurdeep tried to resist, after which the attackers opened fire.Gurdeep was rushed to a hospital but could not survive.His cousin Sahil, who was staying with Gurdeep, said the confrontation took place on Crescent Street near Stanley Avenue, outside the Pink Houses in East New York.Story continues below this ad“Cops told us that Gurdeep Singh was shot seven times in the chest and torso during a confrontation,” said Sahil, adding that “no one has been arrested so far.”Gurdeep’s family has now appealed to the Punjab and Union governments to help bring his body back to India at the earliest. They have also sought coordination with US authorities, a proper investigation into the killing, the arrest of those responsible and strict punishment for the accused.“We send our kids for a better future, not to meet such a fate,” said the inconsolable father.“This is not the first case of a Punjabi youth meeting such a tragic fate after taking a dangerous route to reach the US. Yet young people continue to take these risks because they do not see a future for themselves back home,” said Gurdeep’s uncle, Daler Chand, whose son has been living in the US since 2019 after making the journey there as a minor.Story continues below this adAlso Read | Targeting Gen Z, Punjab’s AAP government to host conclave of 1,000 influencersMeanwhile, condoling Gurdeep’s death, the Indian Consulate General in New York’s posted on its X handle, “We are deeply sad to learn about the untimely demise of Mr Gurdeep Singh, an Indian national, who tragically lost his life in a shooting incident in Brooklyn, New York. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with his family during this difficult time.”Daler Chand said the family received calls from the authorities at the Indian Consulate General in New York on Sunday night, assuring them of assistance in bringing Gurdeep’s body back.