SIT arrests Dera Sirsa Followers suspected of Bargari Sacrilege

Faridkot – A special investigation team (SIT) of Punjab Police, probing the three-year-old sacrilege incidents at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and Bargari villages of Faridkot, has rounded up 10 Dera Sacha Sauda followers, suspecting them to be the prime accused in the sacrilege incidents.

The SIT has named Dera Sacha Sauda follower Mohinder Pal Bittu as the main conspirator of the incident.

The SIT claimed that stolen ‘bir’ (copy of Guru Granth Sahib) was thrown by Bittu in a drain on the Devi Wala road here. SIT member added that the search operation was carried out for five hours, from 3am to 8 am on Saturday morning. However, they were yet to recover it.

“Bittu confessed that he had hatched the conspiracy. After his confession, we started the process to recover ‘bir’ and will make every possible effort to recover it,” said DIG Ranbir Singh Khatra, SIT head.

sacri“We also searched Naam Charcha house (where dera followers offer prayers) to recover ‘bir’, but we were unable to find any proof. Later Bittu claimed that he had thrown rest of the ‘bir’ in a drain after scattering pages in Bargari village,” added Khatra.

He said the SIT took samples of water to check the time a paper or cloth will take the completely absorb the water and lose its form.

The DIF told mediapersons that the SIT had informed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Till date, the SIT has arrested seven dera followers, including Bittu.

Mohinder Pal Bittu, a state committee member of Dera Sacha Sauda, was nabbed from Palampur in Himachal Pradesh on June 7. He was on the run since August 2017 following the conviction of dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

To evade his arrest, Bittu had allegedly been living in Palampur and running a restaurant.