Bargari sacrilege case: When Captain Amarinder Singh, Sukhbir Singh Badal came on the same page

Soon after, Akali Dal chief and Ferozepur MP Sukhbir Singh Badal said that CBI closure report has proven that investigation carried out by the state government was “a complete lie” and was done with a focus on the elections. The statement was seen as him standing by the three accused, all followers of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, with a motive to reap political dividend.

Sukhbir knows that despite the Bargari incidents taking place when he was the state’s deputy chief minister and home minister and his father the chief minister, the probe reaching a dead end won’t help his party. He took to twitter to issue a clarification. “I never issued a clean chit to anyone or described the arrests of dera men as wrong. I strongly oppose this closure report and want the case to be taken to its logical conclusion,” he tweeted.

It took some time, but even Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh “rejected” the closure report. “I reject the CBI closure report in the Bargari sacrilege case which has been hurried through to protect culprits. The case should be reopened for further investigation as failure to do so would result serious law & order repercussions in Punjab if guilty aren’t brought to book,” he said.

It was one of those rare occasions when bitter political foes, Amarinder and Sukhbir, took a similar stance on any issue.

The crime

A theft of Bir of Guru Granth Sahib was reported from village Burj Jwahar Singh Wala in July 2015 following which an FIR was registered at the Bazakhana police station. After almost three months, on September 24, defamatory posters were found pasted on the walls of a gurdwara in Bargari town. Similar posters were found outside Gurdwara Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, two kilometres away, a day later. The posters warned that the stolen Bir will be disrespected. It was also claimed on posters that the stolen Bir was with some followers of Sirsa dera, a sect that had remained in controversy since 2007. A second FIR related to these posters was registered at same police station. The Third FIR was launched after the torn pages of Guru Granth Sahib were found on the streets of Bargari around on October 12, 2015.

Three SITs fail

The then SAD-BJP government first formed a three-member SIT on June 4, 2015 to probe the theft of Bir. Later, then Bathinda IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal on June 10 the same year constituted a second five-member SIT led by former SSP Charanjeet Sharma.

The two SITs failed to find the Bir. On October 14, two Sikh activists, protesting police failure in arresting culprits of sacrilege, were killed in police firing at Behbal Kalan.

The government then formed a third SIT to probe the theft, sacrilege and police firing. This SIT was led by then ADGP IS Sahota. The SIT arrested two Sikh youths for the theft of Bir and sacrilege. Sukhbir Badal held a press conference to announce the arrests. However, police story fell flat within few hours and the arrested youth were released.

After that, Sukhbir, as home minister, handed over the case to CBI on November 11, 2015.

The fourth SIT

Sahota, meanwhile, constituted one more SIT on November 30. Headed by DIG Ranbir Singh Khatra, the SIT was to investigate the incidents of sacrilege reported in Gursar and Malke villages of Moga district in last week of November. The SIT had no direct link with Bargari.

In June 2018, more than a year after Congress formed government, Khatra claimed to have arrested some Dera followers for Bargari sacrilege.

SAD claims credit

Former CM Parkash Singh Badal, in July 2018, took credit for the arrests stating that the SIT was formed by his government. Khatra’s son, Satbir Singh Khatra, unsuccessfully contested the 2017 assembly elections from Patiala rural constituency on SAD ticket.

After Justice Ranjit Singh Commission, formed by Amarinder, pointed fingers at Badals for Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing, Khatra made a few indirect statements, contradictory to commission’s report.

Khatra was also interviewed by a private channel owned by Badal family after the arrest of Dera followers. This interview was considered as party agreeing with the probe.

However, now CBI has given clean chit to dera men arrested by Khatra.

Capt too claims credit

Amarinder, as the CM, also took credit for the arrests. A press note of Punjab government on July 25, 2108, in reference to Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report, reads, “The CM had forwarded the report to the state home secretary and the Advocate General to examine the findings and suggest action so that the guilty can be brought to book at the earliest. The commission was set up in April 2017 by Amarinder Singh-led Congress government to investigate the various incidents of sacrilege of the holy Guru Granth Sahib and other religious texts, after rejecting as ‘inconclusive’ the findings of the Zora Singh Commission set up by the erstwhile SAD-BJP government. It was in June 2018, more than a year after Congress formed government in state with Amarinder Singh, as its chief minister, that Ranbir Singh Khatra arrested some Dera Sacha Sauda men for sacrilege at Bargari and other gurdwaras.”

Capt’s flip-flops

However, two months later, in an interview with a private TV channel, Amarinder said, “There may be ISI hand behind some incidents of sacrilege in Punjab during Akali-BJP government.”

Before Khatra arrested Dera men, the Akali Dal had blamed foreign hands and ISI several times for Bargari sacrilege. Former Punjab DGP Suresh Arora had also suspected ISI role in sacrilege incidents during SAD-BJP government.

House resolution

Amarinder Singh transferred the cases of Kotakpura and Behbal Kalan police firing incidents to the CBI in July 2018. The very next month, he asked Punjab Assembly to pass a resolution to withdraw both sacrilege and police firing cases from CBI and hand it to Punjab Police. It came after Justice Ranjit Singh commission report was tabled in Punjab assembly. The police firing case came back to Punjab Police. However, the CBI kept probing Bargari sacrilege cases and filed the closure report.

The other SIT

The turn of events leading to sacrilege and Kotakpura and Behbal Kalan firing overlaps. The SIT with IG Kunwar Vijay Partap as its member is only investigating Kotakpura and Behbal Kalan police firing incidents. It has no direct link with probe in Bargari sacrilege incidents. Interestingly, Khatra also had no direct link with Bargari probe.