Sewadar’s thrashing: Month on, SGPC suspends 2 employees

A month after its employees allegedly thrashed a ‘sewadar’ (volunteer) brutally, the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has suspended the accused employees.

A month after its employees allegedly thrashed a ‘sewadar’ (volunteer) brutally, the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has suspended the accused employees.

Victim Gurpartap Singh undergoing treatment at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar. (Sameer Sehgal/HT Photo)

“The incident is very unfortunate and we strongly condemn it. We have suspended both the persons,” said SGPC additional secretary and spokesperson Daljit Singh Bedi on Wednesday.

Bedi said SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar has also announced that they will ensure free treatment of the sewadar.

The Amritsar police, meanwhile, registered a case against accused Yaadwinder Singh, Satnam Singh and their two unidentified accomplices under Section 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the E-division police station.

Victim Gurpartap Singh, who is currently admitted at the local Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, had been performing “sewa” at the “langar” (community kitchen) hall of the Golden Temple for the past four years. On May 12, he was allegedly pushed into a room of the building and brutally beaten up by two SGPC employees, who accused him of mobile theft.

Gurpartap, who is nursing severe injuries on his legs and arms, told reporters on Wednesday that he was beaten up by an iron rod, but neither the SGPC nor the city police paid any heed to his initial complaints.

“I was shocked to see the condition of my son. His legs and arms have been badly injured. We want justice,” said Gurpartap’s father, Rajesh Kumar. Originally from a Hindu family, Gurpartap had adopted Sikhism and later got baptised.