Punjab's Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema has announced that the newly enacted anti-sacrilege law in Punjab leaves no loopholes for offenders to escape justice. The law proposes stricter punishment, including life imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 25 lakh, for any act of sacrilege against the Guru Granth Sahib.
The move came days after the Supreme Court vacated the stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the trial in three sacrilege cases.
Ram Rahim, lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria Jail, is serving a 20-year sentence handed out to him in 2017 for allegedly raping two of his disciples.
Bareta, who was one of the accused in the incidents related to the desecration of a religious text in Faridkot in 2015, was declared a proclaimed offender.
After the Akal Takht on Friday declared Sukhbir Singh Badal 'tankhaiya' -- guilty of religious misconduct -- some leaders of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party as well as rebel Akalis called for the Shiromani Akali Dal chief to step down.
They handed the apology letter to Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh at the Akal Takht Secretariat at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The Akal Takht is the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs.
Pardeep Singh was shot in his dairy shop at around 7 am in Kotkapura in Faridkot, the police said, adding that his security man and another person sustained bullet injuries in the incident.
Punjab's Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has said a probe would be carried out to ascertain whether Aroosa Alam, a Pakistani journalist who has been visiting former chief minister Amarinder Singh for several years, has links with the ISI.
The main shooter, identified as Ramjan Khan alias Raj Hooda, was injured in his leg in the shoot-out, said Promod Ban, head of the anti-gangster task force of the Punjab police.
Three suspected shooters were nabbed in Punjab's Patiala district early on Friday in connection with the killing of a Dera Sacha Sauda follower a day ago, the police said.
The court of judicial magistrate first class Rahul Garg also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each on Prithi Singh a resident of Baghapurana and Amardeep Singh and Mithu Singh, both residents of Malke village.
Directly questioning the party's high command's decision on the appointment of Sidhu as the new Punjab Congress chief, Jakhar said that the person who was trying to patch up the rift between Captain Amarinder Singh and Sidhu was forgotten by the Congress party.
Making the announcement at a press conference in Chandigarh, Sidhu, however, said he will assume charge the day Punjab will get a new advocate general.
'Sidhu's suggestions regarding formation of the new government were completely ignored, so he stepped down.' 'Channi's government is walking on the same path as Amarinder Singh's.'
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday said the state must concentrate on real issues that concern every Punjabi even as MP Manish Tewari said he never saw "such chaos and anarchy" being played out in the party's state unit.
A fresh incident of alleged sacrilege was on Wednesday reported in the Moga district of Punjab, which was recently rocked by a series of protests over such cases.
The mortal remains of Lakhbir Singh were cremated at his native village in Punjab's Tarn Taran amid tight security in the presence of his family members. No Sikh priest was present to perform Ardas (Sikh religious prayer) and no one from his village, Cheema Kalan, attended the last rites.
As tight security measures were put in place across Punjab, officials on Sunday said that checking of vehicles has been intensified at various places while paramilitary along with state police force has been deployed in Kotkapura, where Bittu's body was brought from Nabha in the morning.
After taking charge at the state Congress headquarters, the cricketer-turned-politician said there was no difference between an ordinary worker of the party and its state unit chief.
The two brothers, identified as Rupinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh, of Panjgrain village of Faridkot, were arrested in connection with the first incident of sacrilege in the state in Bargari village in Faridkot
Kumar has denied arranging any meeting between former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and the Dera Sacha Sauda sect head.
The Centre has sought a report from the Punjab government on information about alleged foreign hand in the recent incidents of sacrilege that have sparked protests in the state.
Union Minister and Akali leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday blamed a "foreign hand" behind the turmoil in Punjab over the recent incidents of desecration of a Sikh holy book and said the government will expose such elements.
Two brothers arrested in connection with a recent incident of sacrilege in Faridkot were released on Monday, with police now saying there was not enough evidence against them.
AAP leader Bhagwant Mann was forced to leave a religious ceremony after he was allegedly found drunk.
