Amritsar: No conspiracy behind ‘sacrilege' incident at Nanaksar Gurdwara in Jastarwal village, says SSP

Amritsar, January 13

Following a week-long investigation in the “sacrilege” incident at Nanaksar Gurdwara at Jastarwal village, falling under the Lopoke police station here, the Amritsar rural police today claimed “it was not a conspiracy” and that the accused was mentally unsound. “The investigations were carried involving an 11-member committee formed by Sikh organisations and they were satisfied with the probe,” said SSP Rakesh Kaushal on Thursday.

The residents had caught a suspect — Zedrol, a resident of Malda in West Bangal — who was later booked by the police for hurting religious sentiments. The suspect, a Rohingya, apparently hailed from Bangladesh, the police suspected.

“We have done the background check of the suspect, who was interrogated in the presence of the committee members,” he said.

The suspect allegedly worked as a bonded labourer at the residence of Paramjit Singh Pamma of Kakkar village where he stayed for over a year. Later, he worked at the residences of Manpreet Singh of Bachiwind, Rashpal Singh of Jastarwal village, Rana of Umarpura village and Gurtej Singh of Jastarwal village.

They confirmed the suspect was mentally unstable. The SSP said he had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital on the orders of the court. The doctors were running tests to ascertaining his state of mind and appropriate action would be taken. His dope test also came out negative, he said.

Tension had gripped the village after the incident, which was captured in the CCTV cameras of the gurdwara. The accused was taken into police custody 12 hours after the incident. An 11-member committee of Sikh organisations was formed to unearth any “conspiracy” to create a law and order problem in Punjab. —