Four Dera Sacha Sauda have been arrested in connection with a three-year-old case. (File Express Archives photo)
Four Dera Sacha Sauda followers have been arrested by the Punjab Police in connection with the three-year-old desecration incidents at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and Bargari villages of Faridkot, sources said on Sunday.
Sources also revealed that Punjab Police had nabbed Mohinder Pal Bittu, a state committee member of the Dera, from Palampur in Himachal Pradesh on Friday. Bittu belongs to Kotkapura town of Faridkot district of Punjab and he was allegedly involved in Panchkula violence following Dera verdict in August 2017. According to sources, three more persons were arrested from Kotkapura on Saturday morning — diary owners Sunny Kanda, Sukhpreet Singh and their cousin Jaggi Mansa. Police is yet to officially confirm all the arrests.
In 2015, a case of theft of Guru Granth Sahib from village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala was reported on June 1 and the incident of torn pages of the Sikh holy book being found in streets of Bargari village took place on October 12. Both cases were handed over to the CBI by the previous SAD-BJP government. Sources revealed that a team of CBI is likely to visit Kotkapura as well as Faridkot on Monday following this development.
Panthic organisations gathered at Dana Mandi of Bargari village last week to protest against the government for not solving the desecration related cases.
After the programme, parallel Jathedar of Sarbat Khalsa Dhyan Singh Mand started an indefinite dharna in Bargari village demanding arrests in case of Bargari and Behbal Kalan firing in October 15, 2015. Recently, CM Capt Amarinder Singh held a meeting with other parallel Jathedars — Baljit Singh Daduwal, Amrik Singh Ajnala in Chandigarh and he assured them of action in the cases.
Baljit Singh Daduwal, parallel Jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib, said,”We have been saying all along that Dera is involved in this case. But till the time police do not reveal all details on their own, we are not going to believe anything. Our Insaaf Morcha is going on at Dana Mandi of Bargari and it will continue till justice is not made in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, Bargari and Behbal Kalan cases.”
Surinder Pal, younger brother of Mohinder Pal, however, said that his brother was innocent. He added that Mohinder was not running from police but simply had been staying in Palampur as the family has a plot there. He said that as Mohinder was missing from Palampur since Friday, and they had learnt that Punjab Police had picked him from his Palampur house.
Sources revealed that a team of Jagraon police had gone to Kotkapura for the operation. Ravinder Pal, son of Mohinder Pal confirmed before media that police party had told them that they had come from Jagraon. A police team has been deployed outside Kotkapura house of Mohinder Pal Bittu.