Punjab Police have arrested a man who was caught by villagers while allegedly committing sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib in Tarkhan Majra village of Fatehgarh Sahib district, Monday.

A spokesperson of Punjab Police said “an incident of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib was reported from Tarkhan Majra at 11 am. Police have registered a case at Sirhind police station on the statement of Manjot Singh, sewadar of Gurdwara Sahib.”

The spokesperson added that the complainant had in his statement said, “An unknown person driving a Swift car PB-34-7277, came to the village and entered the Gurdwara Sahib on the pretext of paying obeisance, but committed sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji.” The complainant, along with his father, overpowered him and raised an alarm. In the meantime, some residents assembled on the spot and informed police. Senior police officials reached the spot immediately and took custody of the accused.

“The accused has been identified as Sehajvir Singh (19), a resident of Nabha. A search yielded a prescription slip from a Patiala hospital, where he was undergoing drug de-addiction treatment for the last one year. The accused has been identified by his father, who was also brought to the spot, after receiving information about the blasphemous act of his son,” the spokesperson said.

He added that “during preliminary investigations, the accused has disclosed that before committing this horrific crime, he had also committed a similar incident in the morning in a nearby village Jallah, Fatehgarh Sahib district.”

ADGP Law & Order Ishwar Singh, IGP Rupnagar Amit Prasad, IGP Patiala Jatinder Singh Aulakh, SSP Fatehgarh Sahib Amneet Kondal and other senior officers visited the spot.