No sacrilege: CM; one held for murder
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Police on Friday arrested the caretaker of a Kapurthala gurdwara for the lynching of a man and charged him with murder, a senior official said on Friday.
The incident took place at Nizampur village in Kapurthala on Sunday, a day after a similar case at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, where a man was lynched over an alleged sacrilege bid. Gurdwara caretaker Amarjit Singh had earlier claimed that he saw the victim “disrespecting” the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh religious flag.
The police action came soon after chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi told reporters in Chandigarh that the government was considering registering a murder case as no evidence was found backing the desecration charge.
Jalandhar range inspector general of police Gurinder Singh Dhillon said that Amarjit Singh has been arrested for murder. “There is no visible sign of sacrilege till now,” said Dhillon.
“We have modified the already registered FIR in the incident and added offences of Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder), and arrested main accused Amarjit
Singh for murder,” he said.
Police have registered a case against around 100 people, of which 25 to 30 were armed, he said.
“There is videography and there are photographs (of the day of the incident). Since an SHO was present (police had reached the gurdwara when the victim was being beaten up), he will be able to identify them during investigation and due course of law will follow,” said Dhillon.
Asked if there was any update on the victim’s identity, he said a medical board has taken samples for DNA testing. As far as physical identification is concerned, based on videography and photography, so far it has not been possible, the police officer added.
Channi told reporters that the government was mulling over
registering a murder case. “We did not find any sacrilege attempt or any evidence to back it. One person ran the gurdwara. This thing has moved to murder and inquiry is on,” Channi had said, adding that the FIR will be amended.
About 30 injuries, mostly sharp cuts likely to have been inflicted by swords, were found on the man’s body, according to the post-mortem report.
“It has been revealed in the postmortem that he was attacked over with a sharp weapon leading to multiple injuries. There are over 30 sharp cut marks on the body including neck, head and hip,” executive Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Dr Narinder Singh informed on Thursday. “There is also a mark of inserting a sharp object into the chest,” he added while also saying that the cut mark on the left side of his throat reveals that his breathing tube was cut.
“We have taken DNA samples for identification of the body,” he added. The last rites of the man were performed by the Municipal Corporation after the postmortem.