28-year-old man booked for ‘sacrilege’

A 28-year-old man has been booked for allegedly committing the sacrilege of ‘gutka’ at Mananwala village, said police on Tuesday. The incident took place at around 11.15 am on Monday.

As per information, villagers saw Sarabjit Singh, who is reportedly a drug addict, burning the Sikh holy book. Satnam Singh, granthi of village gurdwara, said, “My daughter Harjit Kaur was there when a boy asked her to take the ‘gutka’ sent by Sarabjit, who did not want to keep it at home. She did not take it and asked him to send Sarabjit. However, he did not come and after some time, few villagers found him burning the book and smoking by its side.” The accused managed to fleet the spot.

Police reached there and on the statement of retired inspector Karam Singh, president of gurdwara managing committee, a case was registered against the accused under Section 295 (hurting religious sentiments) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The accused is still at large.