Sacrilege at Khamano village; ‘pothi’ found behind school

Second sacrilege incident in a week at Moga village

KHAMANO: Eight pages of a ‘pothi’ (copy of Sikh holy book) were found scattered in the bushes behind an elementary school of Badesha village of this nagar panchayat in Fatehgarh Sahib district on Monday evening.

“A man who served as granthi abroad first saw the pages near a rajbaha (irrigation canal) around 4pm and informed villagers and police,” said granthi (Sikh priest) Satnam Singh. Ropar range deputy inspector general Gursharan Singh Sandhu, Fatehgarh Sahib senior superintendent of police (SSP) Harcharan Singh Bhullar, and superintendent of police (detective) Rajwinder Singh Sohal inspected the spot.

First, a rumour broke out that the torn pages were from Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh holy book) but later in the evening, police confirmed that these were from a ‘pothi’. Police called up SGPC employees to confirm.

“We have checked all ‘Sarups’ (copies) of Guru Granth Sahib in the surrounding area and found each to be in place,” said SSP Bhullar. MOGA: In second incident of sacrilege within a week, pages of ‘gutka’ (a small book carrying essential verses from Guru Granth Sahib) were found strewn at four different places in Daulatpur Neeva village here on Monday morning.

Shopkeepers found the pages scattered in the market and in the adjacent street.

On August 22, a man had desecrated a ‘gutka’ in the same village.

Former sarpanch Gurmeet Singh informed the police and a team led by senior superintendent of police (SSP) Snehdeep Sharma visited the spot. Heavy security was deputed in the area to avoid an untoward incident. The incident is being seen as aimed at creating tension as parallel jathedar appointed by the radical Sikh leaders, Dhian Singh Mand, was to hold a march against an earlier sacrilege incident in the village on Monday.

ON AUGUST 22, A MAN HAD DESECRATED A ‘GUTKA’ IN THE SAME VILLAGE

Deputy superintendent of police (city) Harinder Singh said they were investigating the case and have procured footage of CCTV cameras installed in the area. A case has been registered under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code at the Sadar police station.

On August 22, a similar incident took place in the same village when one Harpreet Singh alias Sonu had allegedly desecrated a 'gutka' after entering the village gurdwara. Sonu was beaten up by the villagers and is since undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital here.