‘Deranged’ accused saved from mob

CAUGHT ON SECURITY CAMERA DURING MARCH 3 INCIDENT; ACCUSED WAS CALLED TO VILLAGE GURDWARA AND THRASHED THERE IN CAPTIVITY UNTIL POLICE RESCUED HIM If the accused in the Thothian case has a mental ailment, then the police should find out who motivated him to commit the sin. AVTAR SINGH MAKKAR, SGPC chief

AMRITSAR: A day after police arrested three men accused of burning a ‘Bir’ (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib at Amritsar’s Ramdiwali Musalmana village, they had to save another sacrilege accused (a man reported to be deranged) from a mob and Satkar Committee radicals on Sunday at Thothian village in the district.

Police say accused Jaswinder Singh was bashed up before they moved in.

Amritsar senior superintendent of police ( rural) Jasdeep Singh said nobody before had reported this sacrilege incident of March 3 and the gurudwara management had done its own investigation based on the footage from a security camera.

“In the video, they spotted the accused tearing pages of the holy book. On Sunday, they called him over to the gurdwara and shut him in a room, where a mob attacked him. Police had to send in a big team to rescue him. The accused is under treatment for a mental ailment,” said the SSP.

SGPC FLAYS INCIDENTS

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbadhak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar condemned the sacrilege incidents of the two Amritsar villages and asked gurdwara managements to be vigilant. He demanded tough action against the accused.

“If the accused in the Thothian case has a mental ailment, then the police should find out who motivated him to commit the sin,” said Makkar, appealing for peace and calm.

AAP BLAMES GOVT

CHANDIGARH: A day after reports of desecration Guru Granth Sahib of at Musalmana village in Amritsar district, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday accused the SAD- BJP government of its “failure” to check such incidents.

“Such incidents have become a regular feature for the past one year and are hurting religious sentiments of the Sikhs,” AAP convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur said in a statement here.

He said: “Though the accused had been arrested, the officials could not be trusted looking at their track record. In October last year, the police had arrested Rupinder Singh and his brother Jaswinder Singh of Faridkot district on sacrilege charges at Bargari village during the tenure of DSP Sumedh Singh Saini but it boomeranged. “Saini not only produced telephonic transcripts before the media but had also claimed a foreign hand behind sacrilege incidents. But owing to public pressure, the police had release both the duo as they were unable to find any incriminating evidence against them.” Chhotepur said.

He said deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who holds the home portfolio, had failed to put an end to such incidents.