Man held for sacrilege in Amritsar village, ‘wanted to frame creditor’

The Amritsar police have arrested a Butala village resident for allegedly tearing a page of a ‘Gutka’. The accused, identified as Lakhwinder Singh, was planning to falsely implicate a man in the desecration case, said police.

The Amritsar police have arrested a Butala village resident for allegedly tearing a page of a ‘Gutka’. The accused, identified as Lakhwinder Singh, was planning to falsely implicate a man in the desecration case, said police.

Complainant Gurdev Singh told police he had gone to his brother-in-law Baljit Singh’s house at Butala on Monday. There he heard Baljit’s neighbour Lakhwinder talking loudly about tearing the pages of a ‘Gutka’ and putting the blame on one Sukha Singh, to whom he owed money.

Gurdev and Baljit tried to stop him, but Lakhwinder allegedly managed to tear a page. Following the complaint, police booked and arrested him under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Addressing a press conference to share details about the case on Tuesday, inspector general of police (IG), border range, Dr Naresh Arora said: “This case shows that people are concocting stories about sacrilege. Everyone should stay alert and ensure sanctity of holy ‘birs’.”