Dera Followers Demand Probe After Sacrilege Accused Killed In Punjab Jail

Followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect have demanded a judicial probe after a follower, accused in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case, was killed in inside a prison in Punjab's Nabha on Saturday.

Security was tightened across Punjab a day after Mohinderpal Bittu was killed allegedly by two inmates in high-security Nabha prison.

A follower of Dera Sacha Sauda sect, Mohinderpal Bittu was allegedly attacked by two inmates on Saturday evening. His body was brought to his native town of Kotkapura, where large number of Dera followers gathered since morning. They demanded judicial probe into the incident, saying the body will not be cremated till then.

"We want judicial probe into the attack incident. The police have identified two persons who carried out the attack, but we want that those who planned the attack should be identified and punished. Till that time these things become clear, we will not cremate the body," a Dera member told reporters in Kotkapura.

Another sect member claimed that he was "falsely charged " in the sacrilege case and it should be dropped.

As tight security measures were put in place across Punjab, officials said on Sunday that they were checking vehicles at various places. The paramilitary and have been deployed in Kotkapura, where Mohinderpal Bittu's body was brought from Nabha in the morning.

Earlier, police had said that preliminary investigations revealed that Mohinderpal Bittu was allegedly attacked by two other inmates, Gursewak Singh and Maninder Singh, inside the prison. They were produced before a court on Sunday which sent them to police remand for four days.

Mohinderpal Bittu's body was kept in ''Naam Charcha Ghar'' (congregation/prayer centre) of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect at Kotkapura. Many Dera followers gathered there to pay their respects.

Mohinderpal Bittu's son Parminder said that the family used to meet him in jail every Saturday. "We used to meet him every Saturday. Minutes later after we left the jail yesterday, we were told that he was attacked. There was a conspiracy to kill my father," he said.

In a Facebook post, a gangster in Punjab has claimed responsibility for the attack on Mohinderpal Bittu. A senior police official in Moga said that cyber cell of the police had been asked to investigate the claim.

A special investigation team (SIT) of the Punjab Police, probing the four-year-old sacrilege incident and other similar events, had named Mohinderpal Bittu as the key accused. He was arrested from Palampur in Himachal Pradesh a year ago.