Sikh bodies question Takht, SGPC on 328 missing saroops

AMRITSAR : The row over missing saroops refuses to die down with a section of the Sikh community raising questions on why have these not been recovered. The recent inquiry that the Akal Takht had ordered put the number of missing saroops at 328.

Taking action against those indicted in the inquiry report, the SGPC executive has already dismissed six staffers, suspended five and terminated the services of a controversial chartered accountancy (CA) firm on Thursday. This was done on the Akal Takht’s directions.

SGPC member and former general secretary Kiranjot Kaur said, “The SGPC has decided that who is to be blamed for the missing 328 birs. The question still stands where are the birs?”

“The Punjab Human Rights Organization (PHRO) wants to know the fate of 328 missing saroops, plus the 186, which were printed and issued to devotees without authorisation, and persons on whose directions these saroops were provided,” said

Sarbjit Singh Verka, chief investigator of the rights body, which brought the matter to light.

Panthic Talmel Sangathan, the umbrella organisation representing several Sikh groups, said, “The million-dollar question is where are the missing saroops and in which condition they are? The SGPC is silent on this question.” Former Khalsa College principal Baljinder Singh had also raised the same question, while cornering the SGPC on the issue.

There is also demand to make the inquiry report public.