Sacrilege cases: Commission submits report to Punjab CM

Chandigarh  :   Final report on the critical Bargari sacrilege and the Behbal Kalan firing incidents has been submitted by Justice (retired) Ranjit Singh Commission to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday.

The Chief Minister forwarded the report to the state Home Secretary and the Advocate General to examine the findings in a time-bound manner and suggest action so that the guilty can be brought to book.

The Commission was set up in April 2017 by the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government to investigate various incidents of sacrilege of the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, and other religious texts after rejecting as "inconclusive" the findings of the Zora Singh Commission set up by the erstwhile Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP government.

The Commission submitted its final report that detailed the first set of findings.

"The findings contained the final report of the Commission into the incidents of sacrilege at village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, Bargari, Gurusar and Mallke, as well as the firing incident of Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura," a spokesperson said.

He said the Chief Minister had assured that those found guilty of trying to create religious disharmony in the state through such actions would be punished.

The sacrilege cases had increased across Punjab in the run-up to the assembly elections.