The special investigation team (SIT) led by deputy inspector general (DIG) Ranbir Singh Khatra probing the 2015 desecration cases in its chargesheet has claimed that it was Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh who ordered to carry out sacrilege at gurdwaras to avenge insult of sect followers by a Sikh preacher.
The SIT chargesheet, submitted in the court of Faridkot judicial magistrate Chetan Sharma, says that some dera followers arrested in connection with sacrilege revealed that Mohinderpal Singh Bittu, who was killed in a Nabha jail in 2019, told them that the sacrilege was executed at the behest of the dera chief.
“During a diwan (religious congregation) in on March 22, 2015, Harjinder Singh Manjhi, a Sikh preacher, asked some dera followers to remove their lockets or leave. Bittu raised the issue with dera’s now absconding national committee members — Sandeep Bareta, Pardeep Kler and Harsh Dhuri — who saw it as an act of sacrilege and decided to take revenge. The sacrilege conspiracy was hatched thereafter,” the document reads.
Arrest warrants against dera’s 3 national committee members
A Faridkot court on Wednesday issued arrest warrants against the three absconding members of the dera’s national committee after the Khatra-led SIT named them as accused in a case of the theft of a ‘bir’ (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in the district.
{{/usCountry}}A Faridkot court on Wednesday issued arrest warrants against the three absconding members of the dera’s national committee after the Khatra-led SIT named them as accused in a case of the theft of a ‘bir’ (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in the district.
{{/usCountry}}The SIT had filed an application in the court seeking arrest warrants of three Haryana residents — Sandeep Bareta of Bareta Mandi, Pardeep Kler of Kalait village and Harsh Dhuri of Dhuri.
Judicial magistrate Suresh Kumar issued arrest warrants of the trio. The three were also named in the Malke and Gurusar cases. Torn pages of Guru Granth Sahib were found at Malke village in Moga district in November 2015 and Gurusar (Bhagta) village in Bathinda district in October 2015.
The SIT claims that the instructions to execute the theft of Guru Granth Sahib were given by the three.
“The trio directed dera’s state committee member Mohinder Pal Bittu to steal the bir,” claims SIT.