Punjab Police release two brothers accused of sacrilege

Facing more embarrassment, Punjab Police on Monday released the two brothers arrested last month in the main sacrilege case of the Guru Granth Sahib. Officials said they had "nothing more to investigate" against them.

The brothers - Rupinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh - were released from jail in Faridkot.

Punjab Police officials told IANS that the decision was taken as "police had nothing more to investigate against the brothers".

Police had last week sought permission from a court in Faridkot district to conduct a lie-detector test on the brothers. However, the brothers refused to undergo the test.

The release came just a day after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal sanctioned that the three sacrilege cases be investigated by the CBI.

The Punjab government and police were under pressure from radical Sikh leaders who rejected the police investigation and demanded the release of the brothers.

The arrest of the brothers was announced on October 20 by police with much fanfare saying that the main accused in the sacrilege case of Bargari village in Faridkot district had been nabbed and the "foreign hand" in their activities and funding had been established.

On October 20, Additional Director General of Police I.P.S. Sahota had told the media that the two brothers were arrested "after intercepting their mutual as well as Rupinder's foreign calls to Australia and Dubai. During interrogation, the foreign link as well as funding had been established".

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was present at the police press conference to announce the arrest of the brothers.

Two people were killed in police firing in Behbal Kalan village in Moga district last month and scores of others were injured in violence across Punjab as protests erupted over the sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib.