A Nihang allegedly killed a young man on the premises of a gurdwara in Phagwara early Tuesday, claiming later that the unidentified victim had come to the shrine to commit an act of desecration.
While the Nihang was arrested and booked under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, the police also invoked Section 295A (outraging religious feelings) against the man who was killed.
The police said there is no evidence so far of any desecration at the gurdwara.
The Nihang, identified as Ramandeep Singh, posted a video on social media in which he took responsibility for the killing and claimed that he acted in self-defence.
In another video uploaded by Singh, the victim is heard saying that he was sent by someone to engage in “wrongdoing”.
Nihangs belong to a “warrior” Sikh sect whose members are usually seen in blue robes, carrying traditional weapons. The victim was killed with a sharp-edged weapon, the police said.
As news of the killing came in, senior police officers, including additional director general of police Gurinder Singh Dhillon, rushed to the historic Gurdwara Chhevin Patshahi Chaura Khooh.
The police have sent the body of the victim, who appeared to be in his twenties, for a postmortem examination by a board of doctors.
Dhillon told reporters that IPS Section 304 slapped against the Nihang could be converted into Section 302 (murder) following further investigation.
The police also registered an FIR against the victim on the basis of a complaint filed by gurdwara manager Narinder Singh.
The complaint said the unidentified man entered the gurdwara at around 10 pm on Monday and was found hiding in a bathroom at around 2 am.
When the Nihang, who was staying at the gurdwara, confronted the man, he allegedly said he was given money by someone to carry out an act of desecration, which was "foiled".
ADGP (law and order) Dhillon said a preliminary investigation revealed that no incident of desecration took place in the gurdwara.
He said a police team headed by Phagwara superintendent of police Gurpreet Singh will investigate the case.
It will be monitored by deputy inspector general of police (Jalandhar Range) S Bhoopathi and Kapurthala Senior Superintendent of Police Vatsala Gupta.
The team will look into multiple angles including if there was any conspiracy and whether the man was bribed by someone for doing anything objectionable, he said.
He said the police have got the victim's mobile phone number and will be able to fix his identity soon.
It was learnt that he spoke a mix of Punjabi and Hindi, the officer said.
This hinted that he could be from Haryana or Delhi, and perhaps Punjab, he added.
The case will be decided on merit and the director general of police was himself monitoring it, Dhillon said.
He said there was complete peace in the town, and devotees should observe the Gurpurab of the 10th Sikh Guru by visiting gurdwaras without fear, he said.
The birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh falls on Wednesday.
There have been other cases of people being killed on suspicion of sacrilege in recent times.
In October 2021, during the farmers' protest at the Delhi-Haryana border, a Nihang group allegedly lynched a man in Singhu after accusing him of committing an act of desecration. His body was hung from a police barricade.
In December 2021, a man was beaten to death over an alleged sacrilege attempt at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Days later, another man was accused of a similar crime and killed at a gurdwara in Kapurthala.
Last year, a man was beaten up and then handed over to police after he allegedly desecrated the Guru Granth Sahib and assaulted two priests at a gurdwara in Rupnagar.
