Absconding for over seven years, key conspirator in Bargari sacrilege case Sandeep Bareta nabbed at Bengaluru airport

BENGALURU: Sandeep Bareta — the key conspirator in the Bargari sacrilege case in Punjab in 2015 involving the desecration of the holy Guru Granth Sahib who was on the run for over seven years — was nabbed at the Bengaluru airport on Tuesday morning by immigration officials before he was scheduled to board an international flight.
Now in Bengaluru Police custody, the suspect, a member of Dera Sacha Souda, will be handed over to a Special Investigation Team of the Punjab police.
Sources with Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) said Bareta was detained by Bureau of Immigration (BOI) officials at the airport when he produced his passport and found that there was a Lookout Circular issued against it.
The suspect who is in his mid 30s was scheduled to fly out of the country from Bengaluru as he remained absconded since October 2015 after being wanted by Punjab police in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege incidents involving notorious spiritual leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim-led members of Dera Sacha Souda desecrating the Guru Granth Sahib at gurudwaras in Bargari village in Faridkot district in Punjab.
A court examining the Bargari sacrilege case had declared Souda’s national committee members from Sirsa including Sandeep Bareta, Pradeep Klair, and Harsh Dhuri as key conspirators and fugitives in the case.
With an SIT team of Faridkot leading the probe, the trio went into hiding for over seven years and was believed to have fled the country.
Bareta was unexpectedly nabbed at Bengaluru Airport early on Tuesday unaware of the fact that there was a lookout notice for his passport over the criminal charges.
He was detained around 1am soon after he produced his blue book to immigration authorities before attempting to fly out of the country from Bengaluru, airport sources said.
Airport authorities handed him over to the KIA police outside Terminal 1 and he is detailed there.
Police sources said their SIT counterparts in Punjab have been alerted on the arrest of Bareta and a Faridkot police team has left for Bengaluru by air and is expected to land around 6.30pm on Tuesday and take the suspect into custody.
They are expected to fly out with Bareta on Wednesday after securing a transit warrant for him, sources added.
Two other suspects in the case remain still at large.