E-Paper
Three Dera followers get 3-year jail in 2015 Moga sacrilege case
This in the first conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda followers in the interlinked sacrilege cases that rocked Punjab in late 2015
In the first conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda followers in the interlinked sacrilege cases that rocked Punjab in late 2015, a Moga court on Thursday sentenced three men to three-year jail for the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib at Malke village in the district’s Baghapurana subdivision.
The three convicts are Prithvi Singh, a resident of Baghapurana who was a member of the Sirsa-based dera’s state committee, and Malke residents and dera members Mithu Singh Maan and Amardeep Singh. While pronouncing the sentence, the court of judicial magistrate first class Rahul Garg also imposed a fine of ₹5,000 each on the trio.
Meanwhile, two other co-accused, Satnam Singh of Baghapurana and Davinder Singh Harie Wala village, were acquitted for want of evidence.
“Three of the five persons named in the FIR have been convicted and two acquitted. The three have been awarded three years of imprisonment under Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code and another three years under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy). Both punishments will run parallel,” said inspector Dalbir Singh, a member of the special investigation team (SIT) that probed the sacrilege incident.
After their conviction, the trio filed applications for bail, which was granted by court. An official privy to the development said that as per the procedure, court can grant bail to convicts in case the sentence is three years or less. “They had already spent a few months in prison; so they were entitled to bail,” he said.
What had happened on November 4, 2015
On November 4, 2015, torn pages of Guru Granth Sahib were found scattered on the streets of Malke village in Moga district, amid a string of similar incidents at Bargari in Faridkot and Gurusar in Bathinda, triggering statewide protests.
The SIT led by then director general of police Ranbir Singh Khatra arrested Prithvi, Mithu and Amardeep for their involvement in the Malke case in October 2018, while Satnam and Davinder were arrested in December that year. A chagesheet was filed against the five the same month.
In July 2019, a local court framed charges against them. Mohinder Pal Singh Bittoo, a dera follower who was arrested in another case in 2018 and nominated in Malke case too, was killed by two inmates at the Nabha jail in June 22, 2019.
Three other accused — Sandeep Bretta, Pardeep Kler and Harsh Dhuri, who are Sirsa dera’s national committee members — were declared proclaimed offenders (PO). The trio is accused of conspiracy in five sacrilege cases of 2015, including Bargari in which dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been named the main conspirator.
According to the SIT probe, the trio had met Prithvi and instructed him to carry out the theft and desecration of Guru Granth Sahib at Malke village.
Credit war erupts between AAP, Cong after conviction
A credit war erupted between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress after three Dera Sacha Sauda followers were convicted and sentenced to three-year jail in the 2015 Moga sacrilege case on Thursday.
Welcoming the Moga court’s judgment in the case, Punjab cabinet minister Harpal Singh Cheema accused the previous governments of “shielding” the accused and said the AAP government was committed to delivering justice to Punjabis in all sacrilege cases.
“The sacrilege case at Malke village (in Moga district) was reported in 2015 during the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) regime. Even the Congress formed the government (in 2017) on the promise of delivering justice in the case. However, they did nothing. The Bhagwant Mann government ensured that the accused get a deserving punishment,” Cheema said while addressing a press conference here.
Taking a dig at the AAP, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring asked what the ruling party was claiming credit for when everything was done during the Congress regime. “While the sacrilege took place in November 2015 and an FIR was registered the same day, no arrest was made till the Congress formed the government,” he said in a statement, adding, “The arrests were made in October 2018 during the Congress regime”.
Asserting that the entire process that eventually led to the conviction took place during the Congress regime, including the framing of charges in 2019, Warring said: “It was the sincere hard work of the Congress government that led to culprits getting convicted and punished.”
