Kapurthala, Dec 24 : The Punjab Police on Friday arrested the caretaker of a gurdwara here on a murder charge over the lynching of a man whom he had accused of trying to commit sacrilege, police said.
“We did not find any sacrilege attempt or any evidence to back it,” Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi told reporters in Chandigarh earlier in the day. He said the FIR registered earlier will be modified as probe so far indicated murder.
Police said the caretaker, Amarjit Singh, has been remanded to their custody for two days. They have also recovered a pistol fired that day.
The killing took place at Nizampur village in Kapurthala on Sunday, a day after another man was lynched in a similar manner in Amritsar’s Golden Temple over an alleged sacrilege bid.
Amarjit Singh had claimed that he saw the man “disrespecting” the Sikh religious flag, the “nishan sahib” at the Kapurthala shrine. He also made the allegation on Facebook, police had said earlier.
The body of victim, who still remains unidentified bore about 30 injury marks, mostly sharp cuts indicating that swords were used in the attack.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday evening, Jalandhar Range Inspector General of Police Gurinder Singh Dhillon also said there was “no visible sign of sacrilege.”
“We have modified the already registered FIR in the incident and added offences including Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder), and arrested the main accused Amarjit Singh for murder,” he said.