Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Singh, an accused in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case, was shot dead by five motorcycle-borne assailants in his shop at Kotkapura in Faridkot district on Thursday morning.
Pardeep is the seventh dera follower to have been killed since the sacrilege incidents of 2015 in Faridkot district and the second targeted killing Punjab has seen in five days after Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri’s murder during a protest in a busy Amritsar market. Both victims had Punjab Police protection yet they were fatally shot.
Also read: Sudhir Suri: A self-styled Hindu leader who was no stranger to controversies
Though chief minister Bhagwant Mann was prompt in appealing for communal harmony and issuing strict instructions to the police, maintaining law and order is proving to be the biggest challenge for his Aam Aadmi Party government in the border state.
In a social media post, Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which carried out the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala in May, took responsibility for Pardeep’s murder. The claim couldn’t be verified independently.
{{/usCountry}}In a social media post, Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which carried out the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala in May, took responsibility for Pardeep’s murder. The claim couldn’t be verified independently.
{{/usCountry}}Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said the situation was under control and the police were carrying out the investigation in right earnest. He requested citizens not to panic and refrain from spreading fake news or making hate speeches.
Gunman, another shopkeeper injured, hospitalised
Faridkot senior superintendent of police Rajpal Singh said that Pardeep died on the spot, while his gunman and another shopkeeper sustained bullet injuries in the attack at the shop on Hari Nau Road in Kotkapura at 7am. Both of them were admitted to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital at Faridkot. “We are trying to identify the five assailants. We have leads. In view of the threat perception, three gunmen were provided to Pardeep and one of them was with him when the incident took place,” he said.
A CCTV footage shows the five men arriving on two motorcycles. Two of them entered Pardeep’s shop, while three waited outside. After opening fire on Pardeep and the gunman, the duo rushed out after which the three men standing outside the shop also opened fire. Later, they all fled.
Victim directly linked to Bargari sacrileges
Pardeep was an accused in two cases of sacrilege after a ‘bir’ of Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village on June 1, 2015, and after torn pages of a ‘bir’ were found scattered near Bargari gurdwara on October 12, 2015.
He was granted bail in the sacrilege cases on August 3, 2021.
Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT), led by inspector general of police SPS Parmar, named him an accused in both cases and presented chargesheets against dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and followers, including Pardeep.
Pardeep is the seventh dera follower to have been killed since the sacrilege incidents of 2015 in Faridkot district. Others murdered are Gurdev Singh on June 13, 2016; Sat Pal Sharma and his son Ramesh Kumar Sharma of Jaghera village, Khanna, on February 25, 2017; Mohinder Pal Bittu in Nabha Jail on January 23, 2019; Manohar Lal at Bhagta Bhai Ke village, Bathinda, on January 20, 2020; and Charan Dass at Bhunder village in Muktsar on December 3, 2021.
Pardeep is the third dera follower directly linked to the Bargari sacrilege cases to have been killed. The SIT found that Gurdev Singh, who used to run a shop outside the gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, was involved in the theft of the ‘bir’. Bittu was involved in all three desecration cases linked with the Bargari sacrilege.
Dera demands probe into police lapse
Dera Sacha Sauda Punjab management committee member Harcharan Singh said it was shocking that Pardeep was killed even when he was being guarded by Punjab Police personnel.
He said the Punjab government should order an inquiry into the failure of the police to protect Pardeep despite the threat to his life.
“The assailants were closely following the movement of the victim yet the security personnel did not sense the threat. Before Pardeep’s murder, another community leader Sudhir Suri was killed despite police security,” said Harcharan.
“The police administration owes an explanation on how seven dera followers have been fatally targeted since 2016. We are concerned about the safety of the dera followers, who have been unfairly portrayed as being against a community. The state government is responsible for the safety of all and it must hold a probe to fix responsibility for the lapse in the security of its protectees,” he said.