Mentally ill youth held for sacrilege

Our Correspondent

Ferozepur, February 11

Acting swiftly following a sacrilege incident reported in Mahanta Wala village in Guruharsahai subdivision, the police arrested the alleged accused.

He has been identified as Sukhchain Singh of Mano Chehal village in Tarn Taran district.

Jasvarinder Singh, SHO, Guruharsahai, said a complaint was lodged by one Baljinder Singh (50) of Mahanta Wala village in this regard. The SHO said as per the initial probe, Sukhchain entered the village gurdwara on Monday night and damaged the “Palki Sahib”. He also damaged other valuable items placed inside the gurdwara, including ACs, fans and CCTV cameras, etc. Sources said he also allegedly tore the pages of “Gutka Sahib”, hurting the religious sentiments of the villagers.

The SHO said during preliminary investigation, it came to the fore that Sukhchain was mentally challenged. “He was missing from his house for the last one and half months. We have informed his family members and the sarpanch of his village about the incident,” he added.

An FIR under Sections 295A and 427 of the IPC was registered against the accused in Guruharsahai police station.

Following the incident, the accused was manhandled by the villagers before he was handed over to the police.