Punjab Police reconstitutes SIT to investigate ‘328 missing saroops’

A forwarding letter dated February 25, 2026, was sent to all the team members, the Punjab DGP and other senior officials.

The reconstituted team will investigate an FIR dated December 7, 2025, registered at Police Station C-Division, Amritsar, under IPC Sections 295 (injuring or defiling a place of worship), 295-A (outraging religious feelings), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 465 (forgery) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

The Commissioner of Police, Amritsar, has been directed to provide all necessary logistic support for a “fair, scientific and expeditious” probe. The SIT has also been empowered to co-opt additional officers with approval from the PBI Director.

This comes amid the ongoing investigations into a case registered in December, 2025.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) General Secretary Bikram Singh Majithia Wednesday posted on X criticising the move. “Adhoc Acting DGP’s another feat! The reason for changing the SIT is that the first SIT refused to take false action against political persons/leaders and to run the SIT from the AAP Punjab office. I will make more revelations soon.” He tagged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Punjab DGP and the Punjab Police.

Majithia also said the SIT would keep changing “till their political agenda is not fulfilled”.

The earlier SIT had AIG Vigilance Mohali Jagpreet Singh as Chairman, with DCP Ravinderpal Singh Sandhu, Harpal Singh Sandhu Additional DCP, Gurbans Singh Bains SP/D Patiala, Beant Juneja ACP Ludhiana and Harminder Singh ACP/D Amritsar as the members.

The controversy dates back to June 2020, when discrepancies in SGPC records at its Amritsar printing press revealed that 328 saroops of the Guru Granth Sahib could not be properly accounted for from 2013-15.
An enquiry committee headed by Advocate Ishar Singh (constituted by Akal Takht) had flagged serious irregularities, including issues of forgery, breach of trust and potential sacrilege.

After years of protests, demonstrations and demands from Sikh organisations, police in Amritsar registered the FIR on December 7, 2025, naming 16 individuals. Prominent among them is former SGPC Chief Secretary Roop Singh, along with other then-serving or former officials from the SGPC’s Dharam Parchar Committee and finance wings. The government constituted the first SIT around December 22-23, 2025. Since then, the probe has seen:

• Raids at 14 locations in early January 2026.
• Arrests of two key accused: former SGPC auditor/CA Satinderpal Singh Kohli and Kanwaljit Singh.
• Recovery of 169 saroops from the Banga area in Nawanshahr district (announced by CM Bhagwant Mann on January 15, 2026).
• Multiple rounds of questioning of SGPC employees and trustees in late January and early February 2026.
• Seizure of electronic devices, financial records and documents.
• The SGPC initially resisted handing over the records but complied in late January 2026 after intervention by Akal Takht’s acting Jathedar.

SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami has said the body is cooperating and the matter pertains to internal administrative lapses rather than deliberate sacrilege.

The case has deep religious significance for the Sikh community, where any mishandling of Guru Granth Sahib saroops is viewed as a grave sacrilege. It has also become a flashpoint in the ongoing political tussle between the AAP and the SAD-SGPC combine. The ruling party accused the SGPC of mismanagement and the opposition alleged a witch-hunt against Sikh institutions.