A special investigation team (SIT) has been set up to probe an alleged desecration attempt at the Golden Temple in Amritsar as police are trying to asce🅘rtain the identity of the man, who was beaten to death after the incident.
Deputꦓy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa held a me♔eting in Amritsar with the deputy commissioner, the police commissioner, the inspector general of police (border range), the Amritsar Rural SSP and other officials after the incident.
He said an SIT has been constituted under the deputy commissioner of 💧police (law and order), which would submit its report in two days.
The accused spent a few hours at ღthe "Parikarma" of the holiest shrine of Sikhs, Randhawa said, adding tha🌳t he was "here with an aim".
A case was registered against the unidentified man late on Saturday night under IPC sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting ꦓits religion or religious beliefs) and 307 (attempt to murder), Amritsar Police Commissioner Sukchain Singh Gill said on Sunday.
He said footage obtained from all the caꦰmeras at the Golden Tem🔯ple is being examined to collect information about the accused.
The footage shows that the man entered the Golden Temple around 11 am on Saturday and slept for a few hours in front of the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat oওf the Sikhs, the police commi♕ssioner said.
The incident occurred after 🐭6 pm and he had spent several hours in the Golden Temple before committing the crime, he added.
The man jumped across the railings inside the sanctu🦹m sanctorum of the Golen Temple, picked up the ceremonial sword and reached near a place where a Sikh priest was reciting the holy Guru Granth Sahib.
He was 🅰caught by Shiromani Gurdwara Parband♎hak Committee (SGPC) task force members.
When he was beဣing taken to the SGPC office, the angry "sangat" (congregation) thrashed him badly, which subsequently led to his death.
Randhawa said he 🔯spoke to the SGPC president and the Akal Takht Jathedar after the incid🌊ent.
He said the man was yet to be identified.
"No mobile phone, no purse, noജ identity card or Aadhaar card w♍as found from him. It has been established that he entered (the Golden Temple complex) around 11 am and remained there for a few hours until the incident," the deputy chief minister said.
CCTV footage from all the nearby 𒈔as well as other areas of the city is being scanned to ascertain from where he came to Amritsar and from which location he reached the Golden Temple, Randhawa, who also h❀olds the home portfolio, said.
Gill said the "first focus" is to establish the identity of the accused and police are also trying to ascertain from the CC♈TV footage whether anyone was ac𒁏companying him.
"We are scanning the CCTV footage toꦚ see which route he took to reach the Golden 𒀰Temple," he said, adding that photographs of the man have been widely circulated so that he is identified at the earliest.
The police commissioner saiꦿd the post-mortem examination of the de꧂ceased is being carried out and a viscera examination will also be conducted to check if he had consumed any intoxicant.
Randhawa said it is a matter of great sorrow that such an incident took place at the Harmandar Sahib, from where the message of universal communion💫 is conveyed to the mankind.
He said wꦅhile speaking to SGPC officials, it has been suggested that the SGPC task force should also form its own꧑ intelligence wing.
Replying to a question🅷, the deputy chief minister said it was a very unfortunate incident and ꦑthe police will get to the bottom of it.
He added that help was also bein🌠g taken from the SGPC for a thorough probe.
Ra𓆏ndhawa said the Punjab Police, in association with the SGPC, will ensure that all the gurdwaras in the state have CCTV cameras, which should be fully operational.
Replying to a question, he said inimical forces have always tried to disturb🔯 Punjab's peaceful atmosphere, but Punjabis have defeated their nefarious designs.
The deputy chief minister reiterated t🐎hat Punjabis will tackle such attempts with communal harmony.
He said peace and harmony in♛ the state would be maintaine﷽d at all cost.
Randhawa also issued directions to the director general of police (DGP), all the police commissioners and senior superintendents of police (SSPs) to ensure round-the-clock security ar⛦ound all the gurdwaras, temples, mosques, churches and o🌠ther religious places in the state.
To another query, Randhawa pitched for severe punishment for acts of sacrilege and said the Punjab Assembly had passed bills in 2018, proposing amendments t൩o the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to make desecration of religious texts punishable with life imprisonment.
Earlier, several political leaders condemned the alleged sacrilege attempt at the Golden Temple.🌌 PTI JMS SUN VSD RC
