SIT files challan in Moga, Bathinda sacrilege cases

FARIDKOT : The SIT has filed the challan in the two sacrilege cases — Malke village of Moga and Gurusar village of Bathinda district — in Baghapurana and Phul courts, respectively.

The challans were filed against five accused, including main executer Prithi Singh, in the Malke sacrilege case; and against six accused in the Gurusar desecration case. A source privy to development said the three key accused, Pardeep Kaler, Sandeep Bareta and Harsh Dhuri in Gurusar case are still absconding, and non-bailable warrants have already been issued by the Phul court. The SIT will file the supplementary challan against them after their arrest.

DIG Ranbir Singh Khatra, who heads the SIT, said the challans were filed before the respective courts after taking permission from the Punjab government, which is mandatory for cases having Section 295A (intended to outrage religious feelings). The key accused, Prithi Singh, in Malke case, and Jatindervir Arora in Gurusar case have already recorded their confession before the court.

A source privy to the chargesheet said Prithi Singh, who was part of the state committee of Dera Sirsa had got directions from dera functionaries to scatter pages of Guru Granth Sahib and he deputed Amardeep and Mithu for the task, while two men, Satta and Davinder, arranged the copy of the holy book. Torn pages of Guru Granth Sahib were found in Moga in November 2015, after a similar case in Bargari following which cases were registered.