E-Paper
Six years after sacrilege incidents in Punjab, two eyewitnesses surface
Eyewitnesses Harnam Singh and Harnek Singh tell SIT that they saw the dera followers pasting the posters separately on September 24, 2015
Six years after the sacrilege incidents at Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala villages in Faridkot district, two eyewitnesses have come forward to say that they saw four followers of the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda pasting derogatory posters near gurdwaras on the night of September 24, 2015.
In its chargesheet, the Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT) has said that the two eyewitnesses, Harnam Singh and Harnek Singh, saw the dera followers pasting the posters separately and identified them.
Also read: No plans to tweak Citizenship Amendment Act, include other minorities: Parl told
Harnam and Harnek have not recorded their statements before any inquiry commission, including the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission, before this. This could be crucial evidence for the SIT-led by inspector general of police SPS Parmar.
In May, the Parmar-led SIT had arrested Sukhjinder Singh, Ranjit Singh, Shakti Singh and Baljit Singh for pasting derogatory posters at Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village. On July 20, the SIT filed a chargesheet against the accused, copies of which were handed over to them on Tuesday.
On May 25, Harnam appeared before the SIT to join investigation. He identified Ranjit and Sukhjinder, claiming that he saw them at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala on the night of the incident. He said he did not pay much attention at that time as he thought they might be pasting a religious poster. “In the morning, I found out about the derogatory posters, but I was not aware of the identity of both persons. The CBI recorded my statement but never called me for identification of any suspect. Today, I am identifying Ranjit Singh, he was the one who pasted the posters and Sukhjinder was accompanying him,” he said.
CBI did not pay attention to leads
The other witness, Harnek Singh, said that he saw Shakti and Baljit pasting posters at Bargari village on September 24, 2015. “I even went to the CBI officials to inform them, but they did not listen to me. I saw their pictures in a newspaper in May this year and identified them through pictures with SIT officials,” he said.
An official said both eyewitnesses testified after the arrest of the accused in May. “They have not recorded any statement before this. Now, there are eyewitnesses, so the SIT is moving forward with strong evidence,” he said.
The chargesheet reads that the case was traced by the SIT led by former IG RS Khattra during the probe of the 2011 Moga violence case. “But the CBI did not pay attention to the leads provided by the SIT in these cases and emphasised on proving Punjab Police wrong,” the SIT said.
Bid to avenge insult to dera
The SIT also added confessional statements of all accused in which they confessed to the crime. The accused said that they carried out the sacrilege on the directions of dera follower Mohinder Pal Bittu, who was killed in Nabha jail, to avenge the insult of the dera by a Sikh preacher. Bittu got instructions from the dera.
Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report’s finding regarding the three sacrilege cases is also part of the SIT report. The chargesheets filed by the SIT in Gurusar Bhagta (Bathinda) and Malke (Moga) sacrilege cases are also attached.
