Another man was allegedly beaten to death by mob in Punjab
A second alleged incident of sacrilege was reported from Punjab's Kapurthala less than 24 hours after the incident at Amritsar's Golden temple. The man has been beaten to death. The police said the man had entered the gurdwara for theft.
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The two people, who have been lynched in Punjab over alleged sacrilege attempts, are yet to be identified.
No FIR has been registered so far regarding the killing in Kapurthala. Police have earlier said the Kapurthala incident appeared to be the case of theft and not of sacrilege.
Amid tension over the two incidents, police have stepped up security near gurdwaras.
Residents of Nijampur village in Kapurthala had said they caught the man trying to remove the Nishan Sahib (the Sikh flag). Though the police took him into custody, Sikh groups insisted that he be questioned in front of them.
After an altercation with the police, the man was thrashed. Cellphone videos showed him being beaten with sticks. The police later took him to the hospital where he was declared dead.
Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh, the Senior Superintendent of Police in Kapurthala, said that the man beaten to death at Nijampur village had entered the Gurdwara premises for theft and not for sacrilege, as claimed by villagers.
On Saturday, during evening prayers at the Golden Temple, a man in his early 20s jumped into the enclosure where the Granth Sahib – which the Sikhs call their 11th Guru – is kept. He was seen picking up a golden sword as priests rushed to overpower him.
The man, who is yet to be identified, was beaten to death. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said no mobile phone, no purse, no identity card or Aadhaar card was found from him.
The incidents have caused tension in a state where sacrilege is a highly emotive issue. Ahead of next year's elections, it has also adopted political overtones, with a faction within the Congress accusing the erstwhile Amarinder Singh government of failing to address the last series of sacrileges.
The Akali Dal has called it a "deep-rooted conspiracy" to "disturb peace and communal harmony in the state". Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal criticised the state government, saying that there were strong indications of such a conspiracy was being hatched.
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