Punjab police has sought "further probe" by the CBI into three sacrilege incidents at Faridkot in 2015, days after the central investigation agency filed a closure report in a Mohali court in this regard.
In a letter to the CBI, the Special DGP-cum-Director Bureau of Investigation, Punjab, Prabodh Kumar, sought "further investigations" into "certain aspects highlighted by Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General R S Khatra led special investigation team which had probed other such incidents.
In the communication dated July 29, Kumar enclosed a letter written by SIT chief Khatra which pointed out the need to examine certain key witnesses and suspects and to analyse "technical evidence" by seeking information from authorities concerned abroad.
The enclosed letter from Chairman of SIT reveals that certain key witnesses/suspects, whose examination could have thrown light upon these cases have not been identified or examined so far.
"In addition, technical evidence mentioned in the enclosed letter would also need proper considerations and analysis and required information may have to be sought from authorities concerned abroad, Kumar wrote to the CBI Director.
The request for further probe came after the CBI filed its closure report in a special CBI court in Mohali last month, giving a clean chit to the accused in the three incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in 2015 in Faridkot. The agency had rejected the findings of a Punjab Police SIT in these cases.
In the letter, Khatra said that Mohinder Pal Bittu, who was arrested in June last year in connection with sacrilege incidents in Gursar and Malke probed by the SIT headed by the officer, had confessed to his role in the Faridkot incidents.
It was pointed out that Bittu, who was murdered in Nabha jail last month, was the main conspirator of three sacrilege incidents -- theft of a 'bir' (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib from a Burj Jawahar Singh Walagurdwara on June 1, 2015, putting up of hand-written sacrilegious posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala on September 25 and torn pages of the holy book being found at Bargari on October 12, 2015 in Faridkot.
Khatra said that two Pakistani numbers were found during the examination of tower dumps of various telecom companies and sought further probe into cross border communication.
Special DGP-cum-Director BOI in the letter to the CBI wrote, It is requested that further investigations of the three cases referred above may kindly be undertaken as the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib ji is a very sensitive and emotive issue for the Sikh masses.
Under the previous SAD-BJP government, the probe into these three sacrilege cases was handed over to the CBI.
Notably, on July 31, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had accused the CBI of not only overlooking certain crucial aspects of the investigation but also failing in its duty to identify culprits and bring them to book. He had also demanded a reinvestigation.
On August 1, Punjab Advocate General Atul Nanda had termedthe CBI's closure report as bad in law and claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation had no jurisdiction in the matter after the state government withdrew the cases from it last year.
Last year, after issuing notification of withdrawal of cases from CBI, Punjab government had constituted another SIT under the chairmanship of Director BOI, Prabodh Kumar to probe sacrilege and police firing incidents.