Normalcy returning to violence-hit Punjab; former Faridkot SSP to be chargesheeted for negligence

Chandigarh: Punjab was today limping back to normalcy with paramilitary forces keeping a tight vigil in areas rattled by violence over desecration of the holy book even as the state government cleared the decks to charge sheet former Faridkot SSP for alleged negligence and police firing on Sikh activists.

The Sikh protesters have now shifted their dharnas and blockades to inner roads with most of the national highways criss-crossing the state witnessing normal traffic movement, officials said.

However, at Panjgrain village in Faridkot from where the two alleged prime accused in Bargari village incident belong protests continued as locals alleged that the brothers were innocent.
Traffic movement on Harike Pattan bridge at Tarn Taran and Beas in Amritsar has been restored, police said.

Ten companies of paramilitary forces and Punjab police personnel are keeping a tight vigil in the wake of protests by Sikh organisations, including hardliners in parts of the state, including Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Fardikot, police said.

Initiating proceedings against former Faridkot Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Charanjit Sharma, the Punjab government has cleared the decks to charge sheet him for alleged negligence and police firing on Sikh activists, who had been protesting sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari in Faridkot district, official sources said.

Sharma, who was SSP Faridkot when the holy book was first reported stolen from a gurdwara there, is facing suspension for lapses in the line of duty.

Meanwhile, the hardliners among Sikh politicians and religious preachers feel that the two youths arrested by police in connection with the alleged act of sacrilege in Bargari village are innocent.

Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann said until the 'bir' (scriptures) stolen from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village was recovered and subjected to forensic tests to confirm that the pages found in Bargari were from it, it was hard to believe the police theory.

"The police story has gaps," Mann charged.

Hardliners alleged that all arrested accused were either baptised Sikhs or gurdwara priests and "none of whom could have done it". They also demanded a CBI probe.