Gurdaspur Police has denied the reports of ‘blasphemy’ angle in the recent murder case of an Army official. While talking to OpIndia, SP Investigation, Harvinder Singh said the reports of blasphemy are baseless. He said, “He [Deepak Singh] deboarded the bus at the wrong location and went to Gurudwara. The lock on the main gate outside Gurudwara was intact, but the strips on the gate were broken. He was drunk at that time. He was beaten up by the caretakers when they noticed him on the premises.”
When OpIndia asked him if anyone has been arrested, SP Singh said, “We have filed a case in the matter and identified those who were involved in beating him. We will arrest the accused very soon.”
The lynching of Army man in Gurdaspur Gurudwara
On the night between July 1 and July 2, Deepak Singh, an Army staffer, was lynched in a Gurdwara located in a village near Gurdaspur, Punjab. A section of radicals reportedly said that Singh was killed as he had committed sacrilege against the Guru Granth Sahib. Daljit Singh Kashmir alias Bobby was booked as the main accused in the case, among others. Bobby is currently on the run. Damdami Taksal Jatha Rajpura, actor-turned-activist and Republic Day riots accused Deep Sidhu, and several others came in support of Daljit Singh and justified the lynching.
It was also reported that a few days earlier to the incident, Sikh religious leader Baba Ravinder Singh Joni had published a video in which he had called to burn the blasphemer and contact him afterwards. He claimed he would fight the case for the person who burns the blasphemer alive. However, in a recent interview with Seerat Punjabi Di, Baba Joni said as there is no proof of blasphemy in this case, why would he stand with the accused? He said he had sent some learned Sikhs to get more information on the case, and if blasphemy is proved, he would definitely help the accused.
However, he repeated his stand that he would stand with anyone who burns the blasphemer and reward him as well. Joni was reportedly questioned by the Police after his video went viral on social media. Facebook also removed the video from its platform, but it has surfaced repeatedly over the past few weeks.
A separate case of alleged ‘blasphemy’ reported in Mohali, Punjab
Another case of alleged ‘blasphemy’ has been reported in Mohali district, Punjab. As per reports, the incident took place in Manauli village, near Mohali IT city. The villagers found torn pages of Gutka Sahib (a short version of Guru Granth Saheb that is kept in homes) in several locations in the village. The Police were informed, and as the matter was sensitive, SP City Harvinder Singh took charge of the case. The investigation team from Sohana Police Station also reached the location with forensic teams.
According to a report on Daily Post Punjabi, the villagers found out about the incident at around 8 AM. The Granthi of the Gurudwara was informed, who rushed to the location. The Granthi told Daily Post, “We reached the location at around 8 AM. So far, we have found 70+ pages of Gutka Sahib.” When the reporter asked him if they have found all the pages, he said, “No, we are still searching for the remaining pages.” He further added that two days ago, a woman had found two pages on her roof, which she kept at the place of worship in her house. Those pages were also recovered by the Granthi.
OpIndia reached out to SP City Harvinder Singh Virk to learn more about the case. He said, “Police was informed about the torn limbs of Gutka Sahib that were found in Manauli village. A case has been registered based on the complaint of the Sarpanch under Sections 295(a) and 120 of the Indian Penal Code against the unknown person(s). As the investigation is in its initial stage, it would not be correct to make any assumptions. Forensic experts have collected the samples. There was only one CCTV camera in the region, and we are checking the footage to find evidence.”
While talking to Daily Post, SP Virk said that they have full support from the locals and the case would be solved peacefully.
It is notable here that the pages of the Sikh holy book are referred to as ‘ang’ or limbs.
