Sacrilege done to avenge insult of dera men by a Sikh preacher: SIT in chargesheet

FARIDKOT : The special investigation team (SIT) led by deputy inspector general (DIG) Ranbir Singh Khatra probing the 2015 desecration cases in its chargesheet has claimed that it was Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh who ordered to carry out sacrilege at gurdwaras to avenge insult of sect followers by a Sikh preacher.

The SIT chargesheet, submitted in the court of Faridkot judicial magistrate Chetan Sharma, says that some dera followers arrested in connection with sacrilege revealed that Mohinderpal Singh Bittu, who was killed in a Nabha jail in 2019, told them that the sacrilege was executed at the behest of the dera chief.

“During a diwan (religious congregation) in on March 22, 2015, Harjinder Singh Manjhi, a Sikh preacher, asked some dera followers to remove their lockets or leave. Bittu raised the issue with dera’s now absconding national committee members — Sandeep Bareta, Pardeep Kler and Harsh Dhuri — who saw it as an act of sacrilege and decided to take revenge. The sacrilege conspiracy was hatched thereafter,” the document reads.

ARREST WARRANTS AGAINST DERA’S 3 NATIONAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS

A Faridkot court on Wednesday issued arrest warrants against the three absconding members of the dera’s national committee after the SIT named them as accused in a case of the theft of a ‘bir’ (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in the district.