It’s been over half a month since the sacrilege bid inside the sanctum sanctorum at the Golden Temple, but the Punjab Police have not made any breakthrough or identified the suspect who was lynched on the gurdwara premises following the incident.
A day after the incident on December 18, deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had constituted a special investigation team (SIT) under Amritsar DCP (law and order) Parminder Singh Bhandal and asked it to complete the probe within two days.
The SIT went through all CCTV footage of the Golden Temple complex and streets that lead to the shrine, and found that the accused paid several visits to the area before the day of the incident. However, it failed to establish his identity, despite making his picture taken from the CCTV footage public. After no one came up to claim his body, police cremated it.
“We have not got any further clue about the accused despite persistent efforts,” said Bhandal, adding that the man’s postmortem report is still awaited.
Earlier, the SIT had said that any action against those who lynched the accused would be taken only after receiving the postmortem report.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have accused the police of cremating the accused’s body in haste, even as it was crucial evidence in the alleged conspiracy.
SGPC forms 7-member probe panel
The SGPC on Tuesday constituted a seven-member panel to conduct an internal investigation into the sacrilege bid as well as throwing of a gutka (books of hymns) in the sarovar at the Golden Temple.
SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami issued orders to form the panel. “Sri Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple) granth Giani Gurminder Singh, Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa, Shiromani Panth Akali Budha Dal chief Baba Balbir Singh, SGPC senior vice-president Raghujit Singh Virk, member Bhagwant Singh Sialka, member Gurcharan Singh Grewal and Sikh scholar Inderjit Singh Gogoani will be members of the panel,” said Kulwinder Singh Ramdas, media assistant secretary of the apex gurdwara body.
He said SGPC secretary Mahinder Singh Ahli will be the coordinator of the panel.
