‘No visible sign of sacrilege’: Police on Punjab’s Kapurthala gurdwara lynching

A day after a man was killed for an alleged sacrilege bid at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, another unidentified person was beaten to death by a mob after being accused of “disrespecting” the Sikh religious flag at a gurdwara in Nizampur village here on Sunday morning.

Villagers and members of Sikh organisations clashed with police personnel, who tried to save the man, leaving three cops, including a station house officer, injured.

Police said there was “no visible sign” of sacrilege incident having taken place at the gurdwara, which is located on the Kapurthala-Subhnapur road here.

Gurdwara manager Amarjit Singh claimed that he saw the man, who appeared to be a migrant labourer, trying to disrespect the ‘Nishan Sahib’ (religious flag) early morning after he came out for daily prayers. He claimed that the man fled but he was caught by the gurdwara ‘sewadars’ (workers) after a chase.

Singh then went live on his Facebook page and made these claims while police stated that he was trying to give an impression of the sacrilege attempt. However, according to police, the unidentified man was eating chappatis in the kitchen located on the ground floor of the Gurdwara complex. He ran away when a ‘sewadar’ spotted him, they said.

After getting information about the incident, police rushed to the gurdwara where the man, who was in his twenties, was kept in the room. Villagers and members of Sikh organisations also assembled at the gurdwara complex and did not allow the police to take the man to the police station.

Carrying some swords and ‘lathis’, they forcibly entered the room and even scuffled with the cops.

Then they badly thrashed the man, said police, adding that he was brought in a critically injured condition to the local civil hospital where the doctors declared him “brought dead”.

Later talking to reporters, Inspector General of Police Gurinder Singh Dhillon said there is no visible event of sacrilege at the gurdwara. “Everything was found intact including the holy Guru Granth Sahib,” he stated.

Senior Superintendent of Police Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh said the man had the intention of committing a theft in the gurdwara. On the allegation of disrespecting the Nishan Sahib, Dhillon said there was also no visible sign of any act of sacrilege even to the Nishan Sahib but, “we are verifying the facts,” as claimed by the complainant.

A case under Section 295-A (hurting religious sentiments of people) of the IPC on the statement of Gurdwara manager Amarjit Singh has been registered, said Dhillon. Police said Amarjit Singh is being questioned.

However, while replying to a question, Dhillon said a murder case has not yet been filed against those who beat up the man to death as details were being verified. “After verifying all facts, an FIR will be registered,” he said.

When asked if the man was killed even when police were present, the IG, while referring to injuries to some policemen, said it was an emotive issue and police showed restraint. He said three cops, including a station house officer, were injured when they were trying to save the man from the unruly mob.

The incident came a day after an unidentified man was beaten to death after he allegedly attempted to commit ‘sacrilege’ inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Saturday evening.