3 absconding dera national committee members key link in sacrilege cases: SIT KOTKAPURA FIRING: EX-DSP SEEKS ANTICIPATORY BAIL

FARIDKOT : The three absconding members of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda’s national committee are the key link in Punjab’s three sacrilege incidents that sparked off state-wide protests in 2015, says the police’s special investigation team (SIT) led by Jalandhar range deputy inspector general (DIG) Ranbir Singh Khatra.

The team probing the sacrilege cases claims to have found that the instructions to execute sacrilege at Bargari, Moga and Gurusar were given by dera’s national committee members Sandeep Bareta, a resident of Bareta in Mansa district, Pardeep Kler of Panipat in Haryana and Harsh Dhuri of Dhuri in Sangrur district, to the district dera committee members.

The SIT has named Breta, Kler and Dhuri as accused in a 2015 case relating to the theft of a ‘bir’ (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib from a gurdwara. On October 12, 2015, torn pages of the ‘bir’ were found scattered in front of a gurdwara at Bargari village in Faridkot. The trio was also named as accused in the Malke and Gurusar cases.

Torn pages of Guru Granth Sahib were found at Malke village in Moga district in November

FARIDKOT: The then Kotkapura DSP Baljit Singh on Tuesday approached the court of Faridkot duty magistrate seeking anticipatory bail in the Kotkapura firing case.

The court of duty magistrate Rajesh Kumar has summoned records and the matter is listed for July 13.

The SIT probing the Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan police firing incidents had summoned the then Faridkot SSP Sukhmander Singh Mann and Baljit for questioning back to back two days last week, but they had 2015 and Gurusar (Bhagta) village in Bathinda district in October 2015. In 2018, the Khatra-led SIT had arrested more than 20 dera followers, including Mohinder Pal Bittu who was killed in the Nabha jail in 2019, in connection with the sacrilege incidents and rioting in Punjab in 2015. But the police have failed to nab the trio even after two years.

DIG Khatra said Bareta, Kler, and Dhuri were the main link failed to appear.

The SIT wanted to cross question them and the then Kotkapura SHO Gurdeep Singh Pandher.

The SIT arrested Pandher on June 25 by adding Sections 409 and 467 of the IPC in FIR 192, which was registered on Pandher’s complaint on October 14, 2015.

However, Baljit was named as an accused in another FIR registered in 2018 in connection with the Kotkapura firing case, he was granted bail in that case. between the Sirsa dera and district committees in the sacrilege incidents. “In the Bargari sacrilege case, the instructions to steal a bir came through the three. The trio had met Bittu and instructed him for the theft and sacrilege. Similarly, in Moga sacrilege case, they gave instructions to dera state committee member Pirthi Singh after which sacrilege was done by a dera follower at Malke village,” he said.