Sacrilege incident in Jalandhar, probe ordered

In an incident of sacrilege, two motorcycle-borne persons today threw torn pages of a holy Sikh scripture along a canal in Jalandhar, even as a probe was ordered into the incident.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has directed the DGP to order a thorough inquiry into the incident of sacrilege in which miscreants tore and threw pages of the scripture.
Amarinder has asked the DGP to ensure that the culprits are immediately identified and booked so that stringent and exemplary action can be taken against them.
He also asked the state police chief to take all possible steps to prevent vitiation of the secular environment in the wake of the incident, which occurred at around 11 am when two unknown persons threw the pages of the scripture along a canal.

"Such incidents of desecration of religious texts of any faith will not be tolerated and our government would not allow anybody found involved in these kind of sacrilegious acts to go scot-free," said the chief minister, reiterating his commitment to maintaining the peace and harmony of the state at all costs.
The chief minister lauded Jalandhar DCP for controlling the tension which erupted after the incident, when some religious groups gathered at the spot and the nearby gurudwara.

Amarinder also instructed the security personnel to liaise closely with religious groups to maintain religious harmony, while deploying all resources at their disposal to trace the culprits.

He asserted that anyone found guilty of involvement in any incident of sacrilege will not be spared, and once the Commission of Inquiry set up to probe all such cases (incidents of sacrilege in the past) submits its report, the same would be taken to their logical conclusion, with severe action against the guilty.
The government's pressure against such elements has led to a massive decline in the number of cases reported in the state now, with only 13 incidents having taken place prior to today's, since the change of guard in Punjab, Amarinder said.
Of these 13, as many as 12 had been solved, with the culprits having been identified and booked, he added.