About Ishmeet Singh Sodhi

Ishmeet Singh Sodhi (September 2, 1989 – July 29, 2008) was winner of Amul STAR Voice of India 2007. Hailing from Ludhiana(model town), Punjab, India, Singh had won the Star Plus show in 2007. He also participated in another Reality Show called Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar. Ishmeet's first album was a religious Gurbani album called Satgur Tumre Kaaj Savaare. Singh drowned in Maldives on July 29, 2008.

Singh received his schooling from Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar, Ludhiana. He was a second year student of the MNC College in Mumbai, pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce. During his second reality show competition attempt, he had promised his mother to study up to C.A. level.

Ishmeet received training in singing kirtan from Principal Sukhwant Singh, Principal of Gur Shabad Sangeet Academy, Jawaddi Taksaal, Ludhiana. He had learnt how to sing but was not trained to sing classical Indian music. This was evident and criticised during the Star Voice of India contest.

Ishmeet Singh entered the Star Voice of India contest at the tender age of 17, making him one of the youngest competitors on the show. He spent his 18th birthday with his friends, during the show. Singh was among the top two finalists on Amul STAR Voice of India and was crowned the winner on November 24, 2007. He was given the winner's trophy by the singer Lata Mangeshkar. He was also one of the contestants of Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar, a singing reality show on Star Plus and represented the Champions' team. He was sadly eliminated on June 20, 2008.

His style of singing was very similar to Bollywood singer Shaan. Shaan had even said that when they were singing together, he did not know which lines he was singing. Although he came from Punjab, his voice was suited to Hindi songs, and he had made a conscious effort to sing Hindi songs rather than Punjabi numbers.

In July 2008, Singh went on a visit to the Maldives with fellow Star Voice of India contestants Sumitra and Vyom for a concert that was to be held on August 1, 2008. He died on July 29, 2008, drowning in the hotel's swimming pool. Ishmeet Singh was staying at the Chaaya Island Dhonveli resort in Male.

Ishmeet's family suspect that he has been murdered and have listed the reasons why on the Ishmeet Singh Foundation website.

Many believe that there might be a possible manslaughter as his accomplices watched him drown or the failure of event management company to "manage" the event. The family have demanded a probe. The final post-mortem report will not be released before the viscera results are received. The Punjab government has ordered a police probe.

Webnewswire had done an indepth investigation on his death and suggest that there was foul play. They have published a story entitled "Was Ishmeet Singh murdered?", which raised several questions. These include: The Organiser, Post-mortom Report, Lack of witnesses, Recent accidents, etc.

Family members of Ishmeet Singh, winner of the Voice of India reality show, claim they have gathered evidence from the Maldives where the young singer died suggesting foul play in his death.

Ishmeet, 19, died under mysterious circumstances in a swimming pool at the Chaaya Island Dhonveli beach resort in Maldives on July 29. He had gone there to perform in an event.

His father, Gurpinder Singh, and uncle, Charan Kamal Singh, recently paid a three-day visit to the Maldives to try and find more into the "unexplained" head injuries found on Ishmeet.

His family members had earlier said that the post-mortem and forensic laboratory reports stated the reason of his death as drowning, but they are now stressing on the so-far "under noticed" injury marks on Ishmeet's forehead and temple.

According to a report by ADK Hospital, Maldives, where Ishmeet was taken after his death, a linear cut on the forehead was recorded. The post-mortem report in India also mentions a blood clot, "haematoma", under the skin behind the right eye and bloody froth in the nostrils and the mouth.

"We have inspected every nook and corner of the resort and the pool from every possible angle," said Charan Kamal Singh, a pathologist in Ludhiana. "The pool has no pointed surface that could lead to such an external injury," the uncle stressed.

"His injuries show inflammatory change. Inflammatory alterations cannot take place after a person's death and nor in a swimming pool. These injuries could have taken place only when he was outside the pool. Ishmeet was living but unconscious when he was slipped into the pool," he claimed.

According to The Indian High Commission, Maldives... Narayan Swami, first secretary, Indian high commission in Maldives, was not in the country while Ishmeet's family visited the Indian high commission there. However, Mr Thomas, the official spokesperson of the high commission told us, "Ishmeet's father and two uncles had visited Maldives. They met the police authorities and have requested for further enquires about the incident. So, the Indian high commission in Maldives has forwarded the family's request for further enquiries into the matter to the government of Maldives. The letter has already been forwarded. We are taking appropriate steps now, following Ishmeet's family's request."

*Wikipedia