The crowd of thousands came from Raj Guru Road, Pahar Ganj looting Sikh shops as they proceeded. When they reached Sahni Paint House, they began to break the open the locks to the shop shutters. The owners of the pain shop, four Sikhs came out and the eldest who was carrying a revolver ordered the mob to disperse, which they did. Soon after, the mob returned. At the corner of Desh Bandu Gupta Road and Raj Guru Road was a policeman armed with a Stengun and another policeman standing near the corner of Gali No. 1. Both watched while the mob began to attack the shop again without intervening.
The mob began throwing stones and paint boxes at the four Sikhs and quickly went back into the shop, pulling down the shutters in the process. One of the members of the mob put a drum on a cart, lit the drum and pushed the cart In front of the shutter. The drum burst in flames and the shop caught fire. All four Sikhs, the Sahni brothers and owners of Sahni Paint House were burnt to death. Trilok Singh of Chuna Mandi, Pahar Ganj was witness to the murders. His own father, Amir Singh, on the 5 of November, had the local police around his home, and served tea to them. Soon after, he disappeared. It took ten days for the news to emerge that he was killed by a mob. Another relative, Narinder Singh was killed by the police on the road.1