In a shocking incident on Thursday, a person was shot dead in Punjab’s Faridkot by some unidentified attackers. The deceased person has been identified as Pradeep Singh who was a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda, an accused in a 2015 Bargari sacrilege incident, the police informed.
The incident occurred while Pardeep was opening his shop in Kotkapura, they said, adding that Pradeep Singh’s gunman was injured in the incident.
#BREAKING: In the CCTV footage, five unidentified men can be seen opening fire to kill Dera Sacha Sauda follower & accused in #Bargari sacrilege Pardeep Singh at Kotkapura. pic.twitter.com/qg5meXMwFO
— Parteek Singh Mahal (@parteekmahal) November 10, 2022
“An incident of firing took place today where a man, Pradeep Singh, died while 3 people were injured. His security personnel did retaliatory firing too. We have received CCTV footage & have got some leads. Situation under control,” Pradeep Kumar Yadav, IG, Faridkot range told ANI.
Punjab | An incident of firing took place today where a man, Pradeep Singh, died while 3 people were injured. His security personnel did retaliatory firing too. We have received CCTV footage & have got some leads. Situation under control: Pradeep Kumar Yadav, IG, Faridkot range pic.twitter.com/P7vE7Gsq15
— ANI (@ANI) November 10, 2022
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann took to Twitter to condemn the incident and wrote in Gurumukhi, “Punjab is a peaceful state where brotherhood among people is quite strong. Nobody will be allowed to jeopardize the peace in Punjab. Police & civil officials have been given strict instructions to maintain peace in the state.”
ਪੰਜਾਬ ਇੱਕ ਅਮਨ ਪਸੰਦ ਸੂਬਾ ਹੈ ਇੱਥੇ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਦਾ ਆਪਸੀ ਭਾਈਚਾਰਾ ਬਹੁਤ ਮਜ਼ਬੂਤ ਹੈ..ਕਿਸੇ ਨੂੰ ਵੀ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ ਭੰਗ ਕਰਨ ਦੀ ਇਜ਼ਾਜਤ ਨਹੀਂ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਜਾਵੇਗੀ ..ਸੂਬੇ ਦੀ ਅਮਨ-ਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ ਕਾਇਮ ਰੱਖਣ ਲਈ ਸਿਵਲ ਅਤੇ ਪੁਲਿਸ ਅਧਿਕਾਰੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਸਖ਼ਤ ਨਿਰਦੇਸ਼ ..
— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) November 10, 2022
In 2015, Pardeep Singh was accused of stealing a ‘bir’ (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib in Faridkot. He was out on bail.
Protests erupted in Faridkot following ‘sacrilege’ incidents in 2015. In October 2015, police opened fire on protesters in Behbal Kalan, killing two people and injuring several others in Kotkapura, Faridkot.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the head of Dera Sacha Sauda, is serving a 20-year jail sentence for raping two female disciples at his ashram in Sirsa, where the dera is based. In August 2017, he was convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula.
In the past, Punjab has reported cases where people accused of sacrilege were killed. On December 18, 2021, a man was lynched by the Sikh Sangat (Sikh devotees) in Amritsar’s Shri Harmandir Sahib Gurudwara (Golden Temple) for allegedly disrespecting the Sikh religion’s holiest book, Shri Guru Granth Sahib. In October 2021, one Lakhbir Singh, a Dalit Sikh was brutally murdered at the then heart of the farmer’s protest, Singhu border. His hands were chopped and his body was hung on a barricade by Nihang Sikhs over the allegation of trying to steal Sarbloh Granth, a Sikh holy book. In July last year, in Gurdaspur, an Army personnel Deepak Kumar was lynched in a Gurudwara over alleged sacrilege against Shri Guru Granth Sahib.
Notably, Mohinder Pal Singh Bittoo, a Dera Sacha Sauda follower and the main accused in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case, was murdered by two of his fellow inmates on June 22, 2019, in Patiala’s high-security Nabha prison. Gursewak Singh and Maninder Singh, two inmates, attacked him with rods and lynched him to death. He was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead.
The alleged cases of sacrilege of Sikh holy books have become a major political issue in the state, with some parties demanding a special law for it.
