FBI's hate-crime sleuths to probe killing of Sikh brothers

SILICON VALLEY: Police have roped in FBI's hate-crime investigators to probe the killing of two Sikh restaurateurs in California while the reward being offered for any information leading to the assailants has been doubled.
    
The Richmond Police Department had offered a USD10,000 reward for information leading 'to the arrest and conviction' of killers of Ravinder Kalsi, 30, and his brother, 42-year-old Paramjit, who were shot dead a few minutes after closing their Sahib Indian Restaurant on the night of Dec 27 2007.
    
An anonymous benefactor has now offered an additional $10,000, Gurman Bal, a friend and former roommate, was quoted as saying by local media here.
    
Bal had earlier said he feared the killings could be a hate crime.
    
The two assialants walked up to the door, knocked to attract Ravinder's attention and began shooting when he opened the door. "The surveillance camera footage of the suspects
(released last week) has generated a lot of calls and tips," Richmond police Detective Sgt. Mitch Peixoto said. "But so far, nothing has panned out."
    
Local police also have enlisted aid from FBI hate-crime investigators to probe the possibility of that motive, San Jose Mercury news reported.
     
The brothers, hailing from Punjab, ran the restaurant for five years, originally a sideline to their work renovating and selling residential properties. Police say they planned to sell the restaurant, but so far they can deduce no motive from the family finances.