ANGRY MOB THRASHES SHO
A mob angry over a sacrilege incident thrashed an SHO and an ASI at a village in Amritsar district after they didn’t hand over accused to them. ››
PAGES OF GURU GRANTH SAHIB WERE FOUND TORN IN GURDWARA, ACCUSED HELD; VILLAGERS ATTACKED COPS WHEN THEY REFUSED TO HAND OVER ACCUSED, 25 BOOKED
AMRITSAR : Tension prevailed at TalwandiBhangwavillageinthe district on late Tuesday night afterpagesofGuruGranthSahib were found torn in a gurdwara. Though the accused was arrested, agitated villagers thrashed two police officials for not handing over the accused to them.
The sacrilege incident came to lighton Tuesdayeveningwhena granthi entered the village gurdwara to recite gurbani. The footage of CCTV cameras installed there showed that Ranjit Masih, a Christian, from the same village committed the crime.
Police reached the village at 12.15am and arrested the accused. However, some villagers allegedly tried to take away the accused from the police custody. As the cops stopped them, they started thrashing SHO Vipin Kumar and an ASI Pargat Singh. The SHO and ASI managed to run away to save themselves while his driver took away the accused in the police vehicle, eyewitnesses said.
Later, some Sikh activists reached the village and asked the police to interrogate the accused in their presence. However, the police refused to agree to their demand.
A case was registered against the accused under Section 295-A at the Ramdas police station.
Meanwhile, around 25 people were booked for thrashing the two cops on the basis of a statement of ASI Pargat Singh.
In the statement, Pargat said, “They attacked us with the intention of killing. They tried to take away accused Ranjeet from our custody. They also snatched my mobile phone. We managed to run away, along with Ranjeet, and reached Ramdas police station.”
HarjinderSingh,manager of a nearby historic shrine GurdwaraBaba BudhaSahibatRamdas, told HT that the Shiromani GurdwaraParbandhakCommittee (SGPC) is also lookinginto the matter and the desecrated ‘bir’ of Guru Granth Sahib has been sent to Goindwal Sahib (Tarn Taran) for “cremation”.
In a press release, SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badngar said he will write a letter to leaders of the Christian community in this regard. He said the SGPC will also urge Punjab chief minister CaptAmarinder Singhto ensure that strict action is taken against the accused.