Punjab government has formed an SIT to probe the alleged ‘sacrilege’ bid at the Golden Temple in Amritsar that resulted in the accused being lynched.
Aday after a man accused of ‘sacrilege’ was lynched at the Golden Temple, Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi visited the shrine in Amritsar and appealed for calm. He asked the people of the state to “respect and protect” the places of worship of all religions.
Earlier on Sunday, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under DCP Law & Order had been constituted to probe the Golden Temple incident. This SIT, he added, has been instructed to present a report within the next two days.
Terming the alleged ‘sacrilege’ attempt at Sri Darbar Sahib “most unfortunate”, Randhawa promised that the police would get to the bottom of the matter.
According to reports, the man who was beaten to death over the ‘sacrilege’ bid has been booked under Sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC.
‘ACCUSED SPENT WHOLE DAY AT SRI DARBAR SAHIB’
As per the preliminary investigation, the accused had entered the Sri Darbar Sahib complex at 11:30 am and stayed there till the time of the incident, at around 6 pm. It points to the fact that the accused had a target, Deputy CM Randhawa told media personnel.
The CCTV footage of markets and adjoining areas of Sri Darbar Sahib is also being scanned to ascertain where the accused came from and if he was with someone.
Randhawa said the accused had not been identified and his post-mortem is underway. The state government will work jointly with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), he added.
Activists of various Sikh outfits outside the Golden Temple after the incident on Saturday | PTI
He said Punjab Police, in association with the SGPC, will ensure that the Gurdwaras have its CCTV cameras, which should be fully operational.
The Deputy CM mentioned that the Punjab Vidhan Sabha had passed a resolution in 2018 to amend section 298 to 295-A but so far no action had been taken by the Centre. He added that section 295-A had a provision to sentence anyone indulged in sacrilege incidents of any religion to 10-years imprisonment.
The Punjab government will send a letter to the Centre for approval of section 295-A, Randhawa told reporters.
Reiterating that the Punjabis would tackle such attempts with communal harmony, the Deputy Chief Minister said that Punjab’s peace and harmony would be maintained at all costs.
Earlier in the day, Randhawa held a meeting with Civil and Police officers at Police Lines with IG Border Range Mohnish Chawla, Police Commissioner Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill, Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira, SSP (Rural) Rakesh Kaushal, S Rajinder Singh Mehta, S Harjap Singh Suktanwind and S Sukhdev Singh Bhoorakona from SGPC in attendance.
WHAT HAPPENED AT GOLDEN TEMPLE?
A man on Saturday jumped over a railing to enter the Harmandir Sahib Gurdwara inside the Golden Temple during the Rehraas Sahib Paath (evening prayers). He then picked up a sword kept in front of the Guru Granth Sahib inside the reserved area which is only open to Granthi Sikhs.
“One 24-25-year-old man barged inside [Golden Temple] where the holy book [Guru Granth Sahib] is kept. He tried desecrating it with a sword; was taken out by Sangat people; died in the altercation,” said Parminder Singh Bhandal, DCP (law and order), Amritsar (city), had told media outlets.
Activists of various Sikh outfits gather outside the Golden Temple on Saturday | Prabhjot Singh Gill
MAN BEATEN TO DEATH FOR TRYING TO REMOVE FLAG AT GURDWARA IN KAPURTHALA
In another incident, a man was allegedly beaten to death for trying to remove a religious flag from a gurdwara in the Kapurthala district.
The incident took place on Sunday morning at Nizampur village in Kapurthala. The man allegedly tried to remove Nishan Sahib, a religious flag of the Sikhs, at a gurdwara in Nizampur. He was allegedly beaten to death by devotees.
