Sacrilege incident at Jalandhar village gurdwara, two arrested

Jalandhar, December 5

Two persons were booked in connection with a sacrilege incident at a gurdwara at Mansoorpur village in Goraya by the police on Monday. The duo entered the gurdwara around midnight last night as per CCTV footage. They were found when the granthi reached the gurdwara around 5 am. The duo allegedly tried to break open the gurdwara “golak”, consumed liquor and spit the tobacco they were chewing near the platform where the Bir is placed.

Bid to open ‘golak’

• The duo allegedly tried to break open the gurdwara ‘golak’, consumed liquor and spat tobacco on the premises
• When the granthi found them in the morning, both of them attacked him. One of them was apprehended by the granthi and locked in the langar hall kitchen

Security inadequate

Despite repeated directions, gurdwara managements are not ensuring adequate arrangements for safety of saroop. Giani Harpreet Singh, Officiating Jathedar of Akal Takht

Probe needed

In the past, slack probes paved the way for the culprits to escape. I hope this time, a serious investigation is conducted. Harjinder Singh Dhami, SGPC president

Witnesses said spit marks were found on the seat of the granthi, who does parkash of Guru Granth Sahib.

As per the CCTV footage, the men managed to open one lock of the golak, but when they couldn’t open the central lock, they tried to uproot the golak, fiddled with the speaker and amplifiers and cut the wires.

When the granthi found them this morning, both men first attacked him. While one of the suspects fled, the other tried to flee by jumping on the roof of the gurdwra langar hall, but fell down and hurt himself after which he was apprehended by the granthi. He was locked in the langar hall kitchen.

Within hours, the Mansoorpur village gurdwara was flocked by Sikh leaders, Nihangs and people from nearby areas. Till the evening, the suspect was in the custody of the Sikh sangat who refused to let him be taken away by the police. At one point of time, as many as 400 to 500 persons gathered at the gurdwara and hundreds of policemen were deputed to prevent any untoward situation.

However, the situation was brought under control with the police apprising leaders of the CCTV findings, as demanded. While suspect Suresh (27), who had fled, was arrested earlier in the day, Budhu (23), who was detained by the sangat, was arrested in the evening.

As per the police findings, both suspects hail from Varanasi in UP and had information about the presence of NRIs, because of which they thought they would find a substantial amount of money in the gurdwara golak.

The duo was booked under Sections 452, 379, 307, 295 and 427 of the IPC at the Goraya police station,

SSP, Jalandhar, Swarandeep Singh said the duo would be presented before a court tomorrow and a remand would be sought.