Summoned in connection with the missing 328 sacred saroops of Guru Granth Sahib, as many as 38 people, including six serving SGPC staffers, on Friday appeared before the special investigation team (SIT) of Punjab Police to record their statements.
The SGPC staffers, who appeared before the SIT at the office of the Amritsar commissioner of police, are Malkit Singh, Simarjit Singh Kang, Joga Singh, Punjab Singh, Harpreet Singh and Amarjit Singh. Others are former SGPC staffers, who were in service during misappropriation in the body’s publishing house, and employees of then SGPC’s internal auditor and chartered accountant Satinder Singh Kohli.
Kohli is among the 16 people nominated in the FIR registered in this connection and currently in judicial remand.
SIT head AIG Jagatpreet Singh, along with other team members, arrived from Chandigarh for the statements. The process continued throughout the day.
On Thursday, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami had provided the record sought to the SIT at the sub-office of the gurdwara body at Chandigarh.
Earlier, the SGPC had refused to give the record, citing that it was an independent body and Punjab Police’s probe was direct interference in its internal matter.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, the SGPC had refused to give the record, citing that it was an independent body and Punjab Police’s probe was direct interference in its internal matter.
{{/usCountry}}Akal Takht had also endorsed its stand, but later takht’s acting jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj asked the SGPC to cooperate with the SIT and give the record sought.
The matter, first exposed by the Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO) in 2020, has become a flashpoint between the AAP-led government and the SGPC. While the SGPC previously viewed the FIR as an attack on its autonomy, chief minister Bhagwant Mann accused the committee of using the takht as a “shield” for corrupt officials.
The FIR, registered in Amritsar on December 7, 2025, charges 16 individuals, including former SGPC officials, under Sections 295, 295-A, 409, 465 and 120-B of the IPC for criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy and hurting religious sentiments.