Another man killed by angry mob over alleged sacrilege attempt in Punjab

 Alleged sacrilege attempt at Golden Temple, suspect killed

Angry ‘sangat’ killed a man after he allegedly attempted to commit sacrilege in the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple on Saturday.

Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has directed state police authorities to thoroughly probe into entire matter to zero in on the underlying motive and real conspirators behind this dastardly act.

The alleged sacrilege incident occurred at 5.45 pm when Rehras path (routine evening prayer) was in progress. The man, with shorn hair, all of a sudden jumped over the metal fence around the place where ‘parkash’ of Guru Granth Sahib is there.

Punjab’s officiating Director General of Police Siddharth Chattopadhyaya said in a tweet “I have taken serious note of the unfortunate incidents in Amritsar and Kapurthala. Any attempt to violate the communal harmony in the state will be dealt with a firm hand. Stern action will be taken against all those disturbing the law and order in Punjab.”

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to probe the Golden Temple incident, which would present its report within two-days.

Mr. Randhawa, who also holds charge of Home Ministry termed the incident as very unfortunate incident, saying the police will get to the bottom of it. “During preliminary investigation, it has been revealed that the accused entered in the Sri Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex at 11:30 am and he stayed and was there till late evening, which indicates that the accused had come with a target. The CCTV footage of markets adjoining Sri Darbar Sahib was also being scanned to ascertain that was there anyone else with him. We will probe the entire incident jointly with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC),” he said.

He added that the accused has not been identified so far and his post-mortem is being conducted shortly. The Police have booked the deceased man under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of India Penal Code (IPC) because ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ is believed to be a living entity, Besides Section 295-A of the IPC has also been evoked which provides - deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.

Mr. Randhawa also issued directions to the Police to strengthen round-the-clock security around all Gurudwaras, Temples, Mosques, Churches and other religious places. He said that at religious places the CCTVs should be functional in the complexes where Guru Granth Sahib are placed beside other religious scriptures in all religious places.