Day after sacrilege attempt, Punjab CM Charanjit Channi visits Golden Temple

Story by  ATV | Posted by  sabir hussain • 2 Years ago
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and his deputy Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa at the Golden Temple on Sunday.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and his deputy Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa at the Golden Temple on Sunday.

 

Amritsar

A day after a man was beaten to death for an alleged sacrilege attempt at Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday visited the temple premises to take stock of the situation.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was also present at the venue along with the Chief Minister who paid obeisance at the shrine. Terming the incident at Sri Darbar Sahib as most unfortunate, Randhawa said earlier Sunday that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under Amritsar's deputy commissioner of police (Law and Order) has been constituted and would submit an investigation report within two days.

Randhawa’s office said he held a meeting with Civil and Police officers at Police Lines where Inspector General of Police (Border Range) Mohnish Chawla, Police Commissioner Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill, Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira, SSP (Rural) Rakesh Kaushal, S Rajinder Singh Mehta, S Harjap Singh Suktanwind and S Sukhdev Singh Bhoorakona from SGPC were also present.

After the meeting, the Deputy CM said that the incident was "very unfortunate" and that the police will get to the bottom of it.

The CCTV footage of markets adjoining Sri Darbar Sahib was also being scanned to ascertain where the accused had come from and whether he was accompanied by anyone, Randhawa said.

The state government will enquire about the entire incident jointly with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). He also made it clear that the accused was not identified so far.

Punjab Police in association with the SGPC will ensure that the Gurdwaras have its CCTV cameras, which should be fully operational, he added.

The Deputy Chief Minister also mentioned that the Punjab Vidhan Sabha passed a resolution in 2018 to amend section 298 into 295-A for punishment for blasphemy but the Centre has not taken any action so far. He said that section 295-A had a provision of imprisonment for 10 years if anyone indulged in sacrilege of any religion. The State Government will also send a letter to the Centre for approval of section 295-A.

Randhawa also issued directions to the Director-General of Police (DGP), all Commissioners of Police and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSPs) to strengthen round the clock security around all gurudwaras/temples/mosques/churches and other religious places.
 

The CCTVs should be functional in the complexes where Guru Granth Sahib is placed beside other religious scriptures in all religious places, the Deputy CM said.
 

He also said that police should have an active liaison with SGPC and all gurudwaras committees and ensure that Guru Granth Saab should not be left unattended at any time.