Dera followers allege harassment by cops

BATHINDA: Alleging harassment by police in the Bargari sacrilege case, a delegation of Dera Sacha Sauda followers submitted a memorandum to the Punjab governor, chief minister and director general of police through Bathinda deputy commissioner Diprava Lakra on Monday.

The delegation said dera followers respect all religions and are not involved in the desecration incidents. They are being implicated and this should be stopped, stated the memorandum.

The special investigation team (SIT) of Punjab police have already rounded up 12 dera followers, suspected to be behind the 2015 Bargari sacrilege incident that triggered a statewide outrage. Meanwhile, radical Sikh organisations on Monday blamed former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal for “deliberately” not acting against the accused during the SAD-BJP regime.

In a press conference, general secretaries of the United Akali Dal and SAD (Amritsar) Gurdip Singh and Jaskaran Singh Kahan Singh Wala said the Badals didn’t act against the accused involved in the stealing of Guru Granth Sahib from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and its desecration in Bargari. They said a probe panel constituted by Sikh organisations in June 2015 had pointed out in its report the role of dera followers in secrilage incidents, but the Badal government failed to take action.