Amarjit Singh, manager of the Nizampur gurdwara in Kapurthala, was arrested on Friday for allegedly leading a mob that killed a man suspected of attempted sacrilege. The gurdwara manager had alleged that he saw the man trying to disrespect the ‘Nishan Sahib’ or religious flag.
Amarjit was arrested soon after Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi said there was no evidence of a sacrilege attempt in the lynching incident at Kapurthala, and that a murder case will soon be registered in the matter.
The Kapurthala lynching took place on December 19, a day after a similar incident at the Golden Temple in Amritsar where another man was lynched over an alleged desecration bid.
Channi told reporters, “We did not find any sacrilege attempt or any evidence to back it. One person ran the gurdwara. This thing has moved to murder and the inquiry is on. The FIR (already registered in the case) will be amended.”
According to top sources in Punjab Police, the reason behind the man’s murder was being investigated as there was no reason to suggest that he had misbehaved.
Police sources said Amarjit’s links with Pakistani terror groups and ISI were well-known and out in the public domain. He was in touch with an official of the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi, they added.
Earlier, police, too, had said there was “no visible sign” of any sacrilege at the gurdwara.
The man killed has not yet been identified but a post-mortem report showed about 30 injuries, mostly sharp cuts likely to have been inflicted by swords. The man had deep cuts on neck, head, chest and right hip of the body and he would have become breathless after a deep cut on the neck, said the report.
The board of doctors that conducted the autopsy also took viscera of the victim for chemical examination to ascertain whether he had consumed any intoxicants. Doctors took samples of the man’s hair, teeth and blood for his DNA test.
(With inputs from Manoj Gupta)
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