Sacrilege bid at gurdwara in Punjab's Muktsar; accused arrested
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service
Muktsar, December 28
A youth in his early twenties, who is said to be mentally challenged, allegedly tried to run away with the Guru Granth Sahib from a gurdwara at Ennakhera village in Malout sub-division here on Monday.
The gurdwara management allegedly tried to hush up the matter and informed the police on Monday night only after locals gathered at the gurdwara.
The gurdwara in the name of Baba Bidhi Chand is located in two rooms on the outskirts of the village, and was opened only a couple of days ago. The gurdwara is not under the control of the SGPC. It does not have CCTV cameras.
Gurdwara granthi Gursewak Singh alleged that Arshdeep Singh, a resident of the village and son of a founder member of the gurdwara, visited the gurdwara on Monday around 9 am, showed “disrespect” to the weapons before bringing the Guru Granth Sahib in the open.
“I was in the other room and on seeing this overpowered him and managed to secure the Guru Granth Sahib. The holy book is intact. The accused’s father has claimed that his son is mentally challenged and had once even tried to kill him,” claimed the granthi.
Meanwhile, villagers demanded a probe. They said, “We doubt the youth is mentally challenged. The police should bring out the truth.”
Malout DSP Jaspal Singh Dhillon said, “An alleged attempt of desecration occurred at a gurdwara at Ennakhera village. The incident reportedly took place around 9 am and we were informed almost after 12 hours. We have started an investigation and arrested the youth, who is said to be mentally challenged. The accused’s father is a baptised Sikh who had played a key role in the construction of the gurdwara.”
He added, “The accused’s family first took the youth to Baba Avtar Singh Sursinghwale. I have spoken to Baba Nihal Singh at Sursinghwale, who informed me that the youth is mentally challenged.”
Meanwhile, Gurnam Singh, sarpanch, Ennakhera village, said the accused who is mentally challenged had been arrested.
