‘Dera men linked to many sacrilege cases’
MOGA: As police claimed they needed to recover evidences from six arrested followers of Dera Sacha Sauda in a case of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari three years ago, besides other similar incidents, a local court sent them in remand for four days on Tuesday.
The police produced the six men (Sukhjinder Singh, Nishan Singh and Ranjit Singh of Kotkapura, and Randeep Singh, Shakti Singh and Baljit Singh of Faridkot) in a case of damage to public property in 2011 registered at the Moga police station. Punjab Police’s special investigation team (SIT) claimed before the court of chief judicial magistrate Bikramjeet Singh that the men have crucial information about other sacrilege incidents that took place in recent years in Punjab. The SIT then took the men to Jagraon (Ludhiana) for further investigation.
The SIT produced Mohinder Pal Bittu in the Moga court on Monday in the same case, and he too was sent in remand till June 16. On March 7, 2011, around 200 followers of the dera, led by Bittu, blocked Moga-kotkapura road, damaged vehicles and also thrashed commuters, as per FIR.
Police now added section 120B (conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code and sections of Arms Act to the 2011 case. This comes after police claimed to have seized guns and cartridges from the men. Till date, the SIT has arrested seven dera followers who were rounded up last week from various places. The CBI, probing the sacrilege cases, is camping in the state.
The sacrilege incident had triggered a statewide outrage after a ‘bir’ (copy of Guru Granth Sahib) was stolen from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala on June 1, 2015. On October 12, 2015, torn pages of the ‘bir’ were found at Bargari.