Investigation of sacrilege at Harmandir Sahib Cops yet to zero in on accused, SGPC forms own committee

Not just Randhawa, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh had also said that the incident was a conspiracy to weaken the SGPC. Former Punjab CM and Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal had also suspected the role of powerful agencies behind the incidents.

Amritsar police, however, claimed that the two separate incidents of sacrilege reported at Golden Temple within a week had no internal links and so far there is no lead in the investigation. DCP law and order (Amritsar) Parimder Singh Bhandhal had on December 19 said, “We have been investigating the CCTV footage. We are not able to trace the movement of accused before December 15. We are not sure how he reached Harmandir Sahib. There is also no clue about his identity.”

He added that the accused in the December 15 incident is from Ludhiana and has no link with the December 18 incident. “He was taking medicine for depression for around a year and had also beaten up his mother,” he said. The SGPC had also asked police to also investigate the sacrilege incident reported at Takht Kesgarh Sahib in Anandpur Sahib on September 13 last year in which a Dera Sacha Sauda follower was arrested. Amritsar police, however, is not investigating if sacrilege incidents at Harmandir Sahib had any links with the one at Kesgarh Sahib. “That is a different case,” Bhandhal added.

The committee formed by the SGPC members include granthi of Sri Harmandar Sahib Giani Gurminder Singh, head of Damdami Taksal Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa, head of Shiromani Panth Akali Buddha Dal Baba Balbir Singh, SGPC senior vice-president Raghujit Singh Virk, SGPC members Advocate Bhagwant Singh Sialka and Gurcharan Singh Grewal and prominent Sikh scholar Inderjit Singh Gogoani. SGPC secretary Mahinder Singh Ahli has been appointed as the coordinator of this committee.