Mohali gurdwara president booked for assault

Complainant said the shrine’s president and his men were not allowing a jatha to perform kirtan in the gurdwara; when he intervened, they started slapping and assaulting him

The president of Gurdwara Kalghidhar Sahib in Phase 4 and six others have been booked for assaulting a Phase 2 resident on May 22.

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Complainant Jaspal Singh, a resident of Phase 2, said he had gone to the gurdwara to pay obeisance when he saw that the gurdwara president Jatinderpal Singh, his aide Amarjit Singh and others were not allowing a group of jathas to perform the kirtan. When Jaspal asked, the gurdwara president and his aides said that they had booked another jatha for the gurdwara.

“When I tried to reason this out with them, Jatinderpal and his accomplices slapped me many multiple times and also assaulted me. The other devotees in the gurdwara saved me,” said the complainant.

The shrine’s president, however, denied the allegations. “Jaspal and his aides were running a parallel group against me in the gurdwara. I had even made several complaints against him to the police and administration, but to no avail. I will appear in the court rather than answering to the police,” said Jatinderpal.

A case under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and 149 (an offence is committed by any member of an unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code at the Phase 1 police station.