Accused in Bargari Sacrilege case shot dead in Punjab

New Delhi, Nov 10: Dera Sacha Saudi follower Pradeep Singh, an accused in the Bargari sacrilege case was shot dead in Faridkot, Punjab on Thursday by bike-borne assailants who are yet to be identified.

Singh was attacked in the morning when he was going to his shop. Three other persons including a gunman were also injured in the attack. They are being treated a hospital.

"An incident of firing took place today where a man, Pradeep Singh, died while three people were injured. His security personnel did retaliatory firing too. We have received CCTV footage and have got some leads. Situation under control," Faridkot range Inspector General Pradeep Kumar Yadav told media persons.

The Bargari Sacrilege Case:

On June 1 2015, a 'saroop' of the Guru Granth Sahib went missing from a Gurdwara in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village, Faridkot. Three months later, posters with derogatory language against the holy book were found passed in the Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and Bargari villages.

In October, the same year several pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were found thrown in Bargari,followig which wide-spread protests were held in Punjab. On October 14 tow of the protesters were killed in police firing.

It has been six years since the incident and the probes by the Punjab police and CBI have yielded no results as yet.

The Special Investigation Team of the Punjab Police had pinned the blame on the Sirsa based Dera Sacha Saudi. It also named the Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and 11 other followers of the sect as accused in all the three desecration cases. Three cases of sacrilege are under trial at a court in Faridkot.