7 Dera Sacha Sauda followers shot dead in last 6 years, four of them accused in sacrilege cases

Pardeep Kumar was accused in a sacrilege incident wherein torn pages of “bir” (copy of Guru Granth Sahib) were found scattered at Bargari village in Faridkot district in 2015.

CCTB footage of crime pic.twitter.com/Jh5uysefVz

— Kamaldeep Singh ਬਰਾੜ (@kamalsinghbrar) November 10, 2022

He has allegedly thrown the pages of the holy book of the Sikhs in a sewage drain in Kotkapura.

Of the seven killings, Dera follower Manohar Lal, 55, who was shot dead on December 20, 2020 did not have any direct connection with sacrilege cases. Dera follower Sat Pal Sharma and his son who were gunned down at Jagera village in 2017 were not accused in any case.

Update on murder of Sacrilege accused: The situation is under control and I urge people to maintain peace and harmony in the state.@PunjabPoliceInd is doing proper investigation

Request citizens not to panic or spread fake news or any hate speech.

— DGP Punjab Police (@DGPPunjabPolice) November 10, 2022

Gurdev Singh

Three persons Gurpreet  Singh alias Gopi, Ashok Kumar Vohra alias Amna  and  Jaswant Singh alias Kala were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by Faridkot court for the murder of Dera Sacha Sauda follower Gurdev Singh back in 2016.

Judgment in the case reads that motive behind murder of Gurdev Singh is not clear.

The three assailants had entered the shop of Gurdev Singh and opened fire at him on June 13, 2016.

It was only in 2018 that the Punjab Police alleged Gurdev Singh for role in 2015 sacrilege case, around two years after his murder. However, the police had arrested the three men for his murder in August 2017.

Back in 2016, the Punjab government led by Shiromani Akali Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party had given a job to Gurdev Singh’s wife in Punjab police on compensatory grounds under the pressure of Dera followers.

ਪੰਜਾਬ ਇੱਕ ਅਮਨ ਪਸੰਦ ਸੂਬਾ ਹੈ ਇੱਥੇ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਦਾ ਆਪਸੀ ਭਾਈਚਾਰਾ ਬਹੁਤ ਮਜ਼ਬੂਤ ਹੈ..ਕਿਸੇ ਨੂੰ ਵੀ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ ਭੰਗ ਕਰਨ ਦੀ ਇਜ਼ਾਜਤ ਨਹੀਂ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਜਾਵੇਗੀ ..ਸੂਬੇ ਦੀ ਅਮਨ-ਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ ਕਾਇਮ ਰੱਖਣ ਲਈ ਸਿਵਲ ਅਤੇ ਪੁਲਿਸ ਅਧਿਕਾਰੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਸਖ਼ਤ ਨਿਰਦੇਸ਼ ..

— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) November 10, 2022

Later, Justice Ranjit Singh commission, constituted to probe the incidents of sacrilege and subsequent police firing, found that the villagers had told police in 2015 that they suspected the role of Gurdev Singh in the sacrilege case. However, the police did not probe his role.

Main accused Mahinder Pal Bittu

Mahinder Pal Bittu who led a dharna for five days in a row along with the dead body of Dera follower Gurdev Singh at Kotkapura was killed in Patiala jail on June 22, 2019.

Bittu’s dharna in 2016 forced the Punjab government to secure a job for the wife of Gurdev Singh in the police department.

Unlike Gurdev Singh, Bittu was a known face not only among the Dera followers of Malwa region but also for the politicians, police officers and bureaucrats. He was in the 45-member key committee of Dera Sacha Sauda and police termed him the main accused in the 2015 sacrilege cases.

The police had claimed that Bittu – who was booked in the sacrilege cases and arrested in 2018 – was killed by two inmates, Maninder Singh and Gursewak Singh, both serving life term for murder.

Charan Das, an accused in a sacrilege case in Muktsar

Forty-year-old Charan Dass, a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda and accused in a sacrilege case in Muktsar, was shot dead at his grocery shop in Bhundar village on December 2, 2021.

Dass and his sister-in-law Sapna Rani were allegedly captured in a CCTV in the village in an act of sacrilege.

Manohar Lal

Dera follower Manohar Lal, 55, was shot at his shop in Bhagta Bhai Ka town of Bathinda district on December 20, 2020.

Gangster Sukha Gill Lamme had claimed responsibility for the killing of Manohar Lal who was in the 25-member committee of Dera Sacha Sauda.

Lamme, on his Facebook, posted that this murder has been done by his accomplices Harjinder and Aman as a “revenge of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in October 2015”.

Manohar’s son, Jimmy Arora, was booked in the sacrilege case which happened in Gurusar area of Bathinda and is currently out on bail.

Father-son duo

Dera follower Sat Pal Sharma and his son Ramesh Kumar Sharma, 40, were shot dead at the canteen of Dera Sacha Sauda at Jagera village in the Khanna police on February 25, 2017. They were not accused in any case. Their murders were part of target killings taken place in Punjab and are being investigated by the National Investigation Agency.