Ferozepur ‘sacrilege’:Cops zero in on lynching suspects after registering FIR

Ferozepur :A day after a 25-year-old man was lynched for alleged sacrilege at Bandala village in Ferozepur, the police have registered a cross first information report (FIR) and have zeroed on some suspects.

The man was beaten to death allegedly after he tore pages of Guru Granth Sahib at a village gurdwara.

According to a complaint filed by Lakhvir Singh of Mahalam village, Bakhsish Singh of Talli Gulam village visited the gurdwara at Bandala village around 2.30pm on Saturday and reportedly tore off pages of Guru Granth Sahib and tried to flee.

Lakhvir claimed that the alleged sacrilege was captured on closed-circuit television cameras installed inside the gurdwara.

The accused was then apprehended by some villagers and subjected to brutal assault with swords before being taken to a local hospital. He succumbed to injuries during treatment.

“An FIR under Section 307 has been registered against the accused on the statement of Bakhsish’s father,” said Ferozepur superintendent of police (investigation) Randhir Kumar, refusing divulge more details.

An official not wishing to be named said police have registered a case against 22 persons for lynching Bakshish.

The SP said the police had already registered a case against Bakshish under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code.

Meanwhile, Bakshish was cremated amid heavy police presence on Sunday.

Bakshish’s father Lakhwinder Singh termed his son’s act “highly commendable” and said his son was mentally upset and was under treatment for long.

“We are a baptised Sikh family and have utmost faith in the Guru Granth Sahib. My son should have been punished as per law or Sikh maryada instead to killing him brutally,” said Lakhwinder, demanded stern action against his son’s attackers.

“Bakhsish quit school in Class 11 and was under medical treatment since then,” said Lakhwinder.