Bail granted to accused in theft of 328 Saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is proof of Bhagwant Mann government’s failure and incompetence: Khaira

Bail granted to accused in theft of 328 Saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is proof of Bhagwant Mann government’s failure and incompetence: Khaira

Chandigarh/Jalandhar 5 June (Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal) : Senior Congress leader and MLA from Bhulath Sukhpal Singh Khaira has strongly condemned the Bhagwant Mann government and said that the bail granted to accused in a very serious case related to theft and sacrilege of 328 Saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji exposes the gross negligence, incompetence and non-serious attitude of Punjab Police and Aam Aadmi Party government towards sacrilege cases.

Khaira said that in FIR No. 168 dated 07.12.2025 registered in Police Station C Division of Amritsar, in which a case was registered under the theft of 328 Saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and other serious sections, the court has clarified in its order dated 16 April 2026 that the accused had to be granted bail because the police failed to submit the challan within the stipulated time. This is not only a failure of the investigating agencies, but also raises serious questions about the priorities of the state government. He said that on the one hand, the government cannot even prepare a strong case to punish the accused in sensitive cases like the desecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and theft of Saroops, while on the other hand, a youth from Tanda, Arshdeep Singh, is arrested on the charge of allegedly desecrating the Aam Aadmi Party’s election symbol “Broom”. It is clear that the Bhagwant Mann government is more concerned about its political symbol than the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

Khaira said that the “Shukrana Yatra” recently launched by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in the name of the sacrilege law is now proving to be a hollow political drama and a stunt to play with the sentiments of the people. If the government was really serious about the sacrilege cases, it would have filed the challan in time in the case of theft of 328 forms of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and brought the culprits to justice.

He demanded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann apologize to the people of Punjab and the Sikh community for this serious failure and clarify due to which officials’ negligence the accused got bail in such a sensitive case. Also, strict action should be taken against the responsible police officials so that such negligence cannot be repeated in the future.