The Punjab police have reportedly taken a u-turn in the investigation of the case in which an unidentified man, was lynched by a mob in Nizampur village in Kapurthala on Sunday morning after being accused of sacrilege. According to a report by the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, Inspector General of Police Gurinder Singh Dhillon and SSP HPS Khakh, had, at first, confirmed that two FIRs had been filed in the case, one of which had been registered against the accused mob. But they quickly changed their stance after they received at least 8 phone calls during the 45 minutes press conference.
Speaking to the press, the IG and SSP had initially said that one FIR, bearing number 305, was registered against the youth who they said went to the Gurudwara with an intention to steal. Second FIR number 306, the police said, was registered against at least 4 known and 100 unknown people for lynching the unidentified youth in Kapurthala. The officers, however, had not revealed the names of the accused against whom FIR 306 was registered arguing it to be a ‘sensitive case’.
As soon as they spoke about the aforementioned two FIRs, their phones started ringing. They received at least eight phone calls within a span of 45 minutes, 5 of which were attended by the IG and 3 by the SSP.
After speaking on the phone, the police officials immediately backtracked, read the Dainik Bhaskar report. Quickly amending their statement, IG Dhillon confirmed to the press that FIR 306 had not been filed only FIR 305 had been registered. Meaning, that there are no FIRs against the people who killed the man, but there is an FIR against the victim of a brutal mob lynching who was beaten to death.
Case registered against deceased victim and not the mob that lynched the youth
IG Dhillon confirmed that a case under Section 295-A (hurting religious sentiments of people) of the IPC on the statement of Gurdwara manager Amarjit Singh has been registered against the youth who was lynched. Dhillon also confirmed that a murder case has not yet been filed against those who beat up the man to death as details were being verified.
“After verifying all facts, an FIR will be registered,” he said.
When asked if the man was killed in the presence of the police, the IG, while referring to injuries to some policemen, said it was an emotive issue and police showed restraint.
He said three cops, including a station house officer, were injured when they were trying to save the man from the unruly mob.
Man lynched in Kapurthala over sacrilege charge was a thief, didn’t find any attempt of sacrilege at the Gurudwara: Punjab Police
It is pertinent to note here, that after initial investigation, Punjab Police had denied the sacrilege angle in the case and revealed that the killed man was a thief who had entered the Gurudwara with the intention of stealing.
Kapurthala SSP Harkamalpreet Khakh said that they didn’t find any attempt of sacrilege at the Gurudwara. The SSP further added that the Guru Granth Sahib is placed at the top floor of the Gurudwara, while the man had entered only the ground floor which has several rooms and where the Sevadars live. He informed that the killed man was wearing the jacket of a Sevadar at the Gurudwara, and probably he had come to steal the jacket only.
He had confirmed that the accused in the case will be booked under murder charges. However, reports suggest that the Punjab police have registered a case against the deceased victim while no case has yet been registered against the accused mob.
Punjab police have slapped charges of ‘hurting religious sentiments’ (IPC 295) on both the men killed in Amritsar and Kapurthala. No case yet on their killers
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) December 20, 2021
Interestingly, in the alleged sacrilege incident that transpired at the Golden Temple on December 18, the Punjab police had also booked the man who was killed on charges of ‘attempt to murder’ (IPC section 307), while no case has been filed against the accused yet.
