A woman was shot dead for allegedly consuming liquor on the premises of a gurdwara in Patiala, police said on Monday.

Nirmaljit Singh Saini, a regular visitor to the gurdwara, opened indiscrimate firing on Parwinder Kaur, in her late 30s, for consuming liquor near the “sarovar” (holy pond) of Dukhniwaran Sahib gurdwara on Sunday evening, said Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Varun Sharma.

“Saini fired five rounds at the woman with his 32-bore licensed revolver,” police said in an official statement.

The SSP said three bullets hit Kaur and she died on the spot. Kaur was undergoing treatment for alcohol addiction.

The accused, who has been arrested, said he committed the act in a fit of anger as his religious sentiments were hurt, they said. Saini, a property dealer with no previous criminal records, told gurdwara officials that he was upset over the incidents of sacrilege.

The accused was produced before a court here that sent him to 14-day judicial custody.

“Parwinder Kaur was having liquor near the ‘sarovar’ of gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib. When the sangat noticed this, they decided to take her to the manager’s office,” Patiala SSP Sharma said.

As Kaur emerged from the manager’s room accompanied by police, she was fired at by Saini, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) officials said.

Meanwhile, members of various Sikh bodies reached the court complex where Saini was produced by police and greeted him by showering flower petals when he was later escorted out by police after being remanded in judicial custody.

“...If exemplary action is taken against the accused, no one will dare to commit such acts. If the government fulfils its due responsibilities, then such conspiratorial incidents will not happen,” said SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, in a statement issued in Amritsar.