Golden Temple Sacrilege: Punjab Govt forms SIT for probe; security at religious places being increased

On Sunday, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa termed the Amritsar's sacrilege incident at Sri Darbar Sahib a most unfortunate.

He said that within two days an investigation report will be presented by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted under Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Law and Order.

According to the Office of Deputy Chief Minister's, Punjab, Randhawa held a meeting with senior officers of Civil and Police.

• A man in his twenties had crossed the barrier, barging into the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine in an alleged attempt to desecrate Guru Granth Sahib, but was caught by the attendees. The attendees later lynched him to death, as per police.

• It has come during a preliminary investigation that the accused entered the Sri Darbar Sahib complex at 11:30 am and he stayed at Parikarma of the holiest shrine, which termed that the accused was here with a target, the press statement said.

• However the accused has not been identified so far and his post-mortem is being conducted shortly.

The CCTV footage of markets adjoining Sri Darbar Sahib was also being scanned to ascertain that the accused came from which way and was there anyone with him, Randhawa said.

The state government in association with Punjab Police will enquire about the entire incident jointly with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

The Deputy Chief Minister also mentioned that the Punjab Vidhan Sabha passed a resolution in 2018 to amend section 298 into 295-A but so far no action had been taken so far by the Centre.

He said that section 295-A had a provision of 10-years imprisonment if anyone indulged in the sacrilege of any religion. The State Government will also send a letter to the Centre for approval of section 295-A.

• Randhawa also issued directions to the Director-General of Police (DGP), all Commissioners of Police and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSPs) to strengthen round the clock security around all Gurudwaras/ Temples/Mosques/Churches and other religious places.

The CCTVs should be functional in the complexes where Guru Granth Sahib are placed beside other religious scriptures in all religious places, the Deputy CM said. He also said that police should have an active liaison with SGPC and all gurudwaras committees and ensure that Guru Granth Saab should not be left unattended at any time.