Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. (File)Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Saturday handed over the investigation report into three cases relating to the 2015 Bargari sacrilege to the Sikh leaders.
The SIT report has accused Dera Sacha Sauda followers, including its head Gurmeet Ram Rahim, for the sacrilege.
The CM handed over the report to Amreek Singh Ajnala, Major Singh Pandori, Chamkaur Singh, Resham Singh and Baldev Singh.
This report is only about the investigation into sacrilege cases and it has no connection with the police firing incidents at Kotakpura and Behbal Kalan following the sacrilege.
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The 467-page report is a big relief to Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) as it has no mention of then Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal.
Most part of the report is on the investigation conducted during the rule of previous Congress government. The five-member SIT was headed by Inspector General Border Range S P S Parmar. Most of the facts in the report are already in public domain.
Three cases and status
Case FIR No. 63 dated U/S 380, 295-A, 414, 451, 120-B IPC PS Bajakhana was registered for theft of The Saroop of Shri Guru Granth Sahib from the Gurudwara Sahib of Burj Jawahar Singh wala on June 1, 2015. Sukhjinder Singh @ Sunny, Shakti Singh, Baljit Singh, Randeep Singh @ Neela, Ranjit Singh @ Bhola, Nishan Singh, Narinder Sharma and Gurmeet Singh Ram Raheem were booked.
Case FIR No. 117 U/S 295-A, 120-B IPC PS Bajakhana for scurrilous poster pasted on the notice board of Bargari Gurudwara Sahib in the evening of September 24, 2015. Sukhjinder Singh @ Sunny, Shakti Singh, Baljit Singh, Ranjit Singh @ Bhola and Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim are accused in case.
In third case FIR No. 128 U/S 295-A, 120-B IPC PS Bajakhana. Pages of Holy Shri Guru Granth Sahib were strewn around the Gurudwara Sahib Bargari and nearby streets on early morning of October 12, 2015. Sukhjinder Singh @ Sunny, Shakti Singh, Baljit Singh, Pardeep Singh @ Raju Dodhi, Ranjit Singh @ Bhola, Nishan Singh and Gurmeet Singh Ram Raheem were booked. Accused in all three cases have been challaned and framing of charges against the accused is awaited.
Three accused Harsh Dhuri, Pardeep Kler and Sandeep Bareta have been declared proclaimed offenders and are yet to be arrested.
What police claim
According to the challan filed in Faridkot court, there was no tussle between Sikhs and Dera Sacha Sauda before 2007. The conflict started after Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim, during a gathering of his followers at Slabatpura of Bathinda district in May 2007, wore an attire similar to the 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh and copied the act of Guru Gobind Singh baptising first five Sikhs at the time of creation of Khalsa on Baisakhi of 1699.
The tussles between Sikh bodies and Dera Sacha Sauda created law and order problems many times during these years. There was one such clash between Sikh religious preacher Baljit Singh Daduwal and Dera followers at Jaito town of Faridkot in 2009, according to the challan.
Immediate motive behind crime
In the same period, another Sikh preacher Harjinder Singh Majhi’s religious congregations were opposed by Dera followers and police had to intervene to avoid the clash at several occasions, according to the challan.
During one such congregation some Dera followers removed the locket of Dera Sacha Suada head. Dera followers had taken an exception to this incident.
How the plan was executed
Dera followers from Buraj Jawahar Singh Wala went to Dera committee member Gopal Krishan and he asked them to meet Mohinder Pal Bittu.
Bittu brought this matter in the knowledge of Harsh Dhuri, Sandeep Bareta and Pardeep Kader. These three then allegedly told Bittu over phone to take revenge which led to the sacrilege incident, as per the police claim.
According to the challan, same two persons, who were allegedly selected to kill Daduwal, namely Sukhjinder Singh and Randeep, were chosen for this task after discussion with Harsh Dhuri and Pardeep Kaler.
During the third week of May 2015, Sukhjinder Singh, on a Platina motorcycle, did a recee of gurdwara village Sahoke and village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala on the direction of Mohinder Pal Bittu. The police alleged that on June 1, 2015, Randeep alias Neela asked Narinder Sharma to take him to Kotkapura on his Eterno scooter.
They were joined by Sukhjinder alias Sunny at ‘namcharcha ghar’. Sukhjinder and Randeep rode the Platina motorcycle. Narinder was asked to follow them on the scooter, and later told to wait at Bargari village bus stand.
The chargesheet says that Sukhjinder and Randeep went to village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala on the motorcycle. It was Randeep, the police have claimed, who went inside the gurdwara and picked up Saroop of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji from the ‘Palki’. Both later handed over the Bir to Baljit Singh and Nishan Singh who allegedly took the Saroop to village Sikhanwala and hid it.
After about three months, according to the police, they had planned to paste posters in order to throw challenge to the Sikh community. It was the time when Dera followers were upset with the government for not releasing MSG-2 in Punjab. Posters targeting the Sikh community came up outside gurdwara Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and at village Bargari on September 24, 2015. On October 12, 2015, torn pages of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji were found scattered in Bargari. Police said that Mohinder Pal Bittu gave out three locations where torn pages of the Bir were disposed of. Police however couldn’t recover them.
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