Holy book pages found torn, Punjab govt orders probe

Torn pages of a holy book were found near a religious place in Burj Jawahar Singh village of the district triggering protests from the locals, even as Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today appealed for calm and asked Punjab police chief to probe the case.
Activists of various religious organisations today blocked road traffic at Kotkapura to protest against the act, police said. They were demanding immediate arrest of the culprits.
Senior police officers were monitoring the situation.
Officials said that the holy book was stolen from the religious place, located on Bathinda-Kotkapura road, a few days back. "The torn pages appear to be of the stolen holy book," officials said.

The Deputy Chief Minister today directed state police chief Sumedh Singh Saini to take prompt action against those behind the act.
He has also urged the people to maintain peace and communal harmony.

In a statement, Sukhbir, who also holds charge of the home portfolio, said the act of sacrilege was sponsored by certain forces who wanted to sow the seeds of communal tension in Punjab and take the state back to turbulent times.
He said this could be ascertained from the timing of the sacrilege which had occurred at a time when communal tensions were already high in other parts of the country.

"Certain forces want to incite communal feelings for their narrow vested interests but the Punjab government will not let this happen at any cost," he said.
He directed the State Police chief to personally monitor the entire operation.
Meanwhile, special police team was created to carry out investigation into the case and conduct raids to apprehend the accused, officials said.