CHANDIGARH: A day after a youth was beaten to death over an alleged attempt at sacrilege at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a youth was on Sunday lynched at a gurdwara in the Kapurthala for allegedly disrespecting the Nishan Sahib (Sikh flag) there.
The second person was killed in the presence of a police team led by a Senior Superintendent of Police and two SPs. Assumed to be a migrant labourer, his alleged sacrilege was spotted around 4 am at a gurdwara in Nizampur village in Kapurthala district. Gurdwara caretaker Amarjit Singh said he saw that the youth desecrating the Sikh flag but managed hide as there was a power cut. He was caught after power was restored.
Enraged locals lodged him in a room in the gurdwara and demanded that he be questioned before them in the shrine itself instead of taking him to the police station. After heated arguments with representatives of Sikh outfits over the custody of the youth, the police broke into the room where the youth was lodged. Sikh activists followed and in the ensuing scuffle the mob attacked the youth with a sword. He later succumbed to his injuries in a hospital.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Kapurthala, Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh, said: “The mob broken open the window of the room where the suspect was lodged and assaulted him. Police personnel were also manhandled; three of them suffered injuries. As per initial investigation, sacrilege has not been established. It seems theft was the motive.”
Inspector General of Police Gurinder Singh Dhillon said there was no visible evidence of sacrilege at the Kapurthala gurdwara. “Everything was found intact, including the holy Guru Granth Sahib.” Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday visited Amritsar’s Golden Temple, where the first incident happened. He saw an ulterior motive by some “inimical forces or agencies” ahead of the state polls early next year.
A special investigation team has been formed to probe the Amritsar case and submit a report in two days. The police registered FIRs in both cases, but there was no clarity on cases over the deaths. The identities of both victims, too, are yet to be established. In the first case, the man jumped over the rails in the Golden Temple sanctum sanctorum and allegedly picked up the ceremonial sword.
CM appeals for peace
“It is possible that in view of the upcoming polls, some inimical forces or agencies may be trying to play a negative role...I appeal to the sangat to pay attention to take care of religious places — temples and gurdwaras, and institutions of all religions. People should maintain peace and mutual brotherhood,” the chief minister said