'Sacrilege' incident in Punjab causes uproar, SIT formed

In the last two days, two persons have been killed in Punjab over alleged sacrilege attempts. On Saturday, an unidentified man was beaten to death after he allegedly attempted to commit "sacrilege" inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Another unidentified person was beaten to death by a mob after being accused of "disrespecting" the Sikh religious flag at a gurdwara in Nizampur village in Kapurthala on Sunday morning. Villagers and members of Sikh organisations clashed with the police personnel who tried to save the man, leaving three cops, including a station house officer, injured. Police said there was "no visible sign" of sacrilege incident having taken place at the gurdwara.

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi visited Golden Temple and said "inimical" forces may be involved in it in view of the upcoming assembly polls. Channi reiterated the state government's firm commitment to thoroughly probe into the entire matter. "The state intelligence agencies and the police force are pro-actively engaged to avert such acts of anti-social elements," Channi told media persons on a question of such incidents taking place.


He exhorted people to keep restraint by demonstrating their unflinching trust in the ethos of peace, harmony, brotherhood, and religious tolerance.

Channi was accompanied by deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. Randhawa said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to investigate the case and it would submit its report in two days.