Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 19: In yet another incident of alleged sacrilege, third in two weeks and second consecutive in the last two days, a man was lynched to death by an angry mob snatching him away from the police in Punjab on Sunday plunging the poll-bound state in political turmoil.
The second man was beaten to death stoking tension in a state that has barely recovered from the shock of a similar incident in Amritsar’s Golden Temple less than 24 hours before. Local residents said they caught the man from a gurdwara at Nijampur village in Kapurthala district early Sunday morning. They alleged that he was seen “disrespecting” the Nishan Sahib (the Sikh flag) around 4 am even though the police later claimed that it could be a case of an attempted theft and not sacrilege.
Police officials, including Senior Superintendent of Police Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh, rushed to the spot in the morning after the youth was caught by the people at the gurudwara. Cops directed them to hand over the youth and assured that the police will investigate the matter, but they did not relent.
Heated arguments ensued between the police officials and members of the Sikh community over the custody of the youth who had been detained in a room inside the gurudwara.
Sikh organisations also staged a protest outside the gurudwara and demanded that the youth should be handed over to them so they can “teach him a lesson” as they alleged the Punjab government had failed to punish the accused in the Bargari sacrilege case. The police then entered the room forcefully, followed by Sikh activists, and in a scuffle that followed, the mob allegedly killed the youth with a sword.
Manager of the gurudwara, Amarjit Singh, alleged that the youth was trying to commit sacrilege of the Nishan Sahib (a Sikh religious flag) inside the gurudwara and that he went inside the premises searching for it. Singh said they caught him in the wee hours and claimed that he was sent by someone from Delhi.
The SSP said they are looking into the allegations.
Briefing media persons, SSP Khakh said Singh woke up at 4 am and saw a man inside the gurudwara. On being spotted, the youth tried to flee. Two sewadars (co-workers) sent by Singh caught the youth and thrashed him. “The youth was wearing a jacket worn by gurudwara students, relying on which the sewadars caught him. It indicated that the youth intended to commit theft,” the SSP added.
The police said the initial probe indicated that no sacrilege was committed and the case could be that of theft. Kapurthala’s Senior Superintendent of Police Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh, said initial investigation reveals that there has been no sacrilege committed, “in fact it appears to be a case of theft.” “The manager of the gurdwara, Amarjeet Singh saw a man inside the Gurdwara in the wee hours of Sunday and got suspicious as he tried to flee the spot. The man was then caught by two ‘sewadars’ (co-workers) and was then thrashed. Later, several people gathered there and as emotions ran high, the man was killed. The deceased man was wearing a jacket of gurdwara students, which indicates toward theft possibility,” he said.
“We are in process of identifying the man. We will procure his DNA samples. The deceased has suffered sharp injuries in his head and body. We are probing the incident from all angles and will take necessary legal action against the accused who killed the youth,” said Khakh.
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.”
Though the police team reached the spot and took the man into custody, Sikh groups insisted that he be questioned in front of them. The man was killed by the locals after a scuffle with the police. Cellphone videos from the spot showed the man being beaten up with sticks. The police later took him to the hospital where he was declared dead.
The police chief of Punjab tweeted: “In the Amritsar incident, closed circuit television footage showed the man in his early 20s, who had a yellow cloth tied on his head, jumping over golden railing into the enclosure where the Granth Sahib — which the Sikhs call their 11th Guru — is kept. He is then seen picking up a golden sword kept there as the priests sitting at the spot rushed to overpower him. He was beaten to death.”
On Wednesday last week, there was another incident in which a man had thrown a holy book ‘gutka sahib’ into the lake at the Golden temple. Saturday’s incident at the Golden temple – considered the spiritual capital of the Sikhs — created tension in a state where sacrilege is a highly emotive issue. Ahead of next year’s elections, it has adopted political overtones, with the alleged failure of the state’s Congress government to address the last series of sacrileges.
The Akali Dal has already called it a “deep-rooted conspiracy. It is an attempt to weaken Punjab which is the sword arm of India. Some people have made it a political game over the last five years,” Akali Dal MP Balwinder Bhunder said. Former deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal said it was impossible to believe that this could be the act of just one person and this appeared a conspiracy to “disturb peace and communal harmony in the state.”
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has said a Special Investigation Team had been formed, which would present investigation report within two-days. A statement from his office said preliminary investigations showed that the accused in the Saturday’s incident in Amritsar had entered the complex at 11.30 am and “he was stayed at Parikarma of the holiest shrine, which termed that the accused was here with a target.”
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.
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 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.
