Man arrested for tearing pages of Guru Granth Sahib at Dera Bassi
DERA BASSI: The police have booked a mentally unstable man for tearing pages of Guru Granth Sahib at a gurdwara in the Devi Nagar locality of Dera Bassi, 25km from Chandigarh, on Sunday morning. The accused has been identified as Surjit Singh, 28, of Dera Bassi.
The police said Surjit came to the gurdwara at 6am, tore around 50 pages of the holy book and left. No one was present in the gurdwara when the incident took place.
‘Granthi’ Prem Singh found the pages of the holy book torn when he went to the gurdwara. He informed the police and the accused was apprehended. He also confessed to the sacrilege, claimed the police.
Superintending of police (detective) Teja Singh said a first information report has been registered against the accused under Section 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 380 (theft in dwelling house, etc) of Indian Penal Code. Police said the accused was upset after the death of his sister three months ago and was also undergoing medical treatment.
SGPC ASKS GURDWARA MGMTS TO BE ALERT
AMRITSAR: Concerned over a series of sacrilege incidents of Guru Granth Sahib across the state, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Kirpal Singh Badungar has asked gurdwara managements to heighten vigil at the shrines. He also condemned desecration of the holy book at Dera Bassi.
Some anti-social elements are trying to vitiate the atmosphere by orchestrating such acts but the gurdwara managements cannot run away from their responsibility, he said.
“We need to be alert and ensure safety of gurdwaras both in cities and villages,” said the SGPC chief. He also asked the SGPC members to run an awareness campaign against sacrilege.
ACCUSED SURJIT SINGH IS MENTALLY UNSTABLE, WAS UPSET AFTER SISTER’S DEATH: POLICE