In the year 2015 Bargari sacrilege case, the SIT of Punjab Police in its investigation report has accused Dera Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and followers of Sacha Sauda in this conspiracy. The 467-page final report of the SIT was handed over by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to the Sikh leaders on Saturday. In a meeting with Sikh leaders, the Chief Minister has sought 90 days’
time from them, assuring full cooperation in this matter. The report is to be presented in court on July 29.
The SIT, headed by IG SPS Parmar, did not find any political conspiracy in its final report. However, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have been blaming the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Home Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in this matter. The SIT constituted earlier, in this case, had also summoned the Badal father and son for questioning in the Bargari sacrilege and Kotkapura police firing case.
The SIT, led by IG Parmar, had also questioned Gurmeet Ram Rahim at Sunaria
Jail in Rohtak, Haryana. However, the report said that during the investigation
by the SIT, the attitude of Ram Rahim was non-cooperative. In the report, the SIT has named Dera Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in three incidents of sacrilege.
The other accused in these three cases are Sukhjinder Singh alias Sunny, Shakti Singh, Baljit Singh, Randeep Singh alias Neela, Ranjit Singh alias Bhola, Nishan Singh, Narinder Sharma and Pradeep Singh. Three other accused – Harsh Dhuri, Pradeep Kler and Sandeep Bareta – are yet to be arrested. They have been declared a fugitive criminal. Mohinder Pal Bittu, a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda, was the main accused. He was murdered by two prisoners in Nabha Jail in 2019.
It is clear from the material/evidence collected that the accused had direct links with the Dera management, the report said. The motive behind the
incidents is also to be associated with the film ‘MSG-2’. Dera Sacha Sauda followers were upset over the non-release of Ram Rahim starrer ‘Messenger of God’ (MSG-2).
The trial of the above three cases of sacrilege is going on in a court in Faridkot and the next date for framing of charges against the accused is on July 29. Last year, the CBI had handed over documents and files related to the year 2015
Bargari incidents to the Punjab Police SIT on the directions of the Punjab and
Haryana High Court. In 2015, the then SAD-BJP government handed over the
task of investigating three cases to the CBI. The Punjab government had handed over the investigation to an SIT of the state police in September 2018,
after the state assembly passed a resolution withdrawing the consent of the
CBI to investigate these cases, given the lack of progress in the investigation.
The incident of sacrilege of the holy form of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji outside the Gurdwara Sahib in Bargari came to light on 12 October 2015, causing outrage among the Sikh community. Shortly before this incident, on June 1, a form was stolen from Gurdwara Sahib in village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and on September 24, posters were pasted and threatened with sacrilege. On 14 October 2015, two people were killed and many were injured due to the forcible lifting of dharnas of Sikh organizations in Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in protest against the sacrilege.