Amritsar, December 18
Angry ‘sangat’ killed a man after he allegedly attempted to commit sacrilege in the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple on Saturday.
The alleged sacrilege incident occurred at 5.45 pm when Rehras path (routine evening prayer) was in progress. The man, with shorn hair, all of a sudden jumped over the metal fence around the place where ‘parkash’ of Guru Granth Sahib is there.
Before he could get successful in his attempt he was nabbed by on-duty SGPC employees. According to reports, he caught hold of Sri Sahib (Kirpan, a Sikh religious symbol) and placed feet over Rumala Sahib. During the melee the Granthi Singh continued with the recitation of the ‘path’.
Sources said SGPC employees took him to a room situated along the Parkarma, where he was beaten up during interrogation.
SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami said the person was killed by angry devotees. “It appeared to be a deep-rooted conspiracy to vitiate the atmosphere and bring disgrace to the Sikh faith. The incident required a probe to expose the forces behind it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the alleged attempt to commit blasphemy was seen on live TV as the ‘path’ was being telecast on a channel. The clip was soon widely circulated on social media and people, including Nihang Singhs and members of various Sikh organisations, rushed to the Golden Temple.
Later, more video clips emerged showing the body lying on the floor of the Golden Temple complex and people gathered around it raising religious slogans.
It was the second such incident in the Golden Temple in the past two days. On Wednesday, the SGPC employees handed over one Ranbir Singh for allegedly throwing holy gutka (a handbook of Gurbani) into the sarovar (holy tank) of the Golden Temple.
Paramjit Singh Sarna, former president of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Committee; Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad, a leader of Akali Dal Sanyukt, and other Sikh leaders denounced the incident. They said it was an attempt to vitiate the harmonious and peaceful environment of Punjab.
Police Commissioner Sukhchain Singh Gill said the preliminary probe revealed that the accused had attempted to commit blasphemy and an aroused Sangat beat him to death. When the police team reached the spot he had already been done to death by the crowd. “We took possession of the body outside Teja Singh Samundari Hall’s entrance gate. The body was taken to Civil Hospital for post mortem. Efforts were on to identify him and appropriate action would be taken on the basis of the statements of the eyewitnesses and SGPC employees,” Gill said.
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