A migrant woman was arrested by the Jalandhar Rural Police in connection with an alleged sacrilege incident at Sanghwal village in Kartarpur on Wednesday.
After locals complained to the police regarding the sacrilege and misbehaviour by the woman at the local gurdwara, police teams reached the spot, conducted an investigation and took the woman into custody.
The woman has been identified as Radhika, a resident of Bihar. The police said the accused’s permanent address is being verified.
An FIR has been registered against the woman at Kartarpur Police Station under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on June 17.
As per reports, the incident happened at Shri Guru Ravidas Gurdwara at Sanghwal. As per witnesses, a woman entered the gurdwara and behaved in a disorderly manner. She is accused of tearing pages of a gutka sahib, triggering panic among children present at the gurdwara.
Villagers apprehended the woman and also beat her up, informing the police soon after. On the statement of gurdwara granthi Kamaljit Lal, the woman was arrested.
He said a religious programme was underway and children were performing path. He had gone out of the main hall for a brief period when the accused woman entered, took gutka and tore the pages.
SHO, Kartarpur, Ramandeep Singh said, “We had arrested the woman and after presenting her in the court, she has been sent to judicial custody." He added, “We cannot comment at this stage whether the woman was deranged. We are still investigating the matter."
The SHO said the woman had attempted to tear the pages. “They were damaged but did not fall apart,” he said. So far she had been booked under the BNS Act only. “Since we are still investigating the matter, we have not imposed the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act in the matter", he said.
This is the second alleged incident of sacrilege involving a gutka sahib since the new anti-sacrilege Act came into force. In an earlier case registered at Basti Bawa Khel police station on May 19, torn pages of a gutka sahib were found scattered along a roadside in the Raja Garden area. Unknown persons were booked under the new Act in that case.
