Three Accused In Singhu ‘Blasphemy’ Murder Garlanded And Felicitated In Punjab Gurudwaras

A total of four arrests have been made so far by the Haryana and Punjab police in connection with the barbaric mutilation-murder of a man for “desecrating” a copy of the Sikh religious text.

All four are Nihangs — an order of Sikhs characterised by their blue robes, long beards and big turban.

Three of them have been captured on camera being felicitated with garlands at the gurudwaras in their respective villages. At least two of them have appeared before the media and said they have "no regrets" for committing the brutal crime.

The first person to be arrested was Sarabjit Singh, who surrendered before the police on Friday. He has been produced before a Sonepat court and remanded in police custody for a week.

Before being jailed, Sarabjit Singh appeared briefly before the media, and said that he had no regrets for his act. He added that anybody who dares to commit sacrilege (of Sikh religious texts) would meet with the same consequences as the victim, Lakhbir Singh.

The second person, Narain Singh, surrendered before the police on Saturday, but not before going to his village in Amritsar. Visuals show Narain Singh being felicitated by men at a local gurudwara. He was given a robe of honour and a garland of currency notes, The Tribune reported.

Narain Singh too told local media that Lakhbir Singh was rightly punished for sacrilege of a book.

Narain Singh has reportedly told the police that it was Sarabjit who had sliced off the wrist of Lakhbir but, when he reached the spot, he got so angry that he chopped Lakhbir’s foot as well.

Later in the day, two more Nihangs — Govindpreet Singh and Bhagwant Singh, both natives of Fatehgarh Sahib — surrendered before the Kundli police. All three are yet to be produced before the court, which is scheduled to be done today (Sunday).

Pictures of the two being similarly felicitated at a gurudwara have come to light and are being shared by journalists.

On Friday morning, the body of Lakhbir Singh was found hanging from a metal frame at the farmer protest site at Singhu border between Haryana and New Delhi.

The chopped hand of Lakhbir had been hung from the same frame.