Protests over sacrilege continue in Punjab, 2 killed in clashes cremated

Faridkot: Protests over alleged sacrilege of Sikh holy book in a village here continued on Friday at various places in Punjab on Friday even as the two persons killed in a clash with police two days back were cremated amid tight security.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, meanwhile, directed the state police to withdraw all cases registered against those who were protesting over the alleged sacrilege during the last one week.

Sikh activists blocked traffic at a few places in Malwa region of the state, including Moga, Sangrur and Barnala, police said. Traffic was blocked at nine places in Moga district alone, police said.

The routes where the traffic was blocked included Kotkapura, Barnala and Sangrur, Baghapurana to Nihalsingh Wala, Ajitwal on way to Ludhiana, Bilaspur on way to Barnala, Lohara on Moga-Barnala road, Dina Sahib, Phule wala canal bridge on Baghapurana Nihal Singh wala road connecting with Barnala road, they said.

The situation is under control and heavy police force has been deployed to maintain law and order, Moga SSP Charanjit Singh said.

At Fatehgarh Sahib, activists of Akali Dal (Mann) raised slogans outside the venue of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) executive committee meeting, Singh added.

Meanwhile, the two persons who were killed in the clash between Sikh protesters and police in Behbal Kalan village over the sacrilege issue on Wednesday were cremated in their respective villages in Punjab.

The post-mortem of Gurjit Singh (26) and Krishan Singh (43) was conducted at Guru Gobind Singh Medical college here today and were cremated in the evening, police said.

Gurjit was cremated at Sarawan village while Krishan's cremation was held at Niami Wala village in the district.

Families of the deceased have sought stringent action against the guilty.

"I will fight for justice till my last breath," Gurjit's 80-year-old grandfather Pritam Singh said.

Krishan's father Mohinder Singh said his son was supposed to go to UK.

Heavy police force had been deployed in both the villages and sensitive areas of Faridkot to maintain law and order.

Badal directed the police to withdraw cases against those protesting over sacrilege, saying "the sentiments expressed by the protesters were the result of extreme provocation and the state was with them in this hour of grief."

He added, "My sentiments have also been deeply outraged by the desecration and I can understand the actions of the people."

Sikh temporal head Akal Takht directed the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) to investigate the alleged sacrilege, even though the government has set up an inquiry commission.