Probe yet to prove Dhumma link

Ruchika M. Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 22

The police investigation into the murderous attack on Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale has so far failed to establish the involvement of Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma, even as parleys are on between the Akali leadership and the two warring Sikh groups.

The interrogation of the eight accused in police custody has revealed that while five of them are directly associated with the Taksal, the others are linked to Taksal offshoots.

Sources in the government told The Tribune that the police investigation was indicating that the attack was planned by the Taksal followers themselves as “revenge for the objectionable remarks” made by the preacher against Dhumma.

During the interrogation, the accused reportedly said their objective was only to scare Dhadrianwale. An official source said, “They claimed to have come armed with lathis and just one or two firearms. However, when they waylaid Dhadrianwale’s cavalcade near Ludhiana, the first shots were apparently fired by the latter’s men.” The weapon that Dhadrianwale’s aide carried that day has not yet been sought by the police.

Though Dhadrianwale has been demanding action against the main conspirator, senior Akali leaders are trying to pacify both sides – Damdami Taksal and functionaries of Gurdwara Parmeshwar Dwar Sahib.

With the state Assembly elections less than a year away, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) cannot afford a split of its Sikh vote bank. While the Sant Samaj and Damdami Taksal, both headed by Harnam Singh Dhumma, have been helping the SAD retain control of Sikh institutions such as the SGPC, Sikh preachers Dhadrianwale and Bhai Panthpreet Singh have also become influential, especially after they spearheaded the anti-sacrilege protests last year.