Jathedar of Akal Takht, (highest Sikh temporal seat) Giani Gurbachan Singh on Saturday issued a directive to SGPC, to hold a high level probe into bloodshed at Akal Takht on the eve of 30th anniversary of Operation Bluestar.
During the morning programme to mark the 30th anniversary of Operation Blue Star, the situation took an ugly turn when SGPC employees refused to hand over the sound system to President of Akali Dal (Amritsar), Simranjit Singh Mann. Swords and wooden rods were used by both the Task Force of SGPC and Mann’s supporters.
Mann held SGPC responsible for the stampede in the marbled periphery of Golden Temple which had created fear among the visitors, besides injuring several people. In his directions, Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh asked SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar to find out the cause of brawl in the premises of Golden Temple and Akal Takht and to submit report forthwith.
The Jathedar asked Makkar to set up a high level Committee for the speedy investigation, to find out the cause and the people responsible for bloodshed. Giving clean chit to Simranjit Singh, Jatehdar said that Mann could not be held accountable for unfortunate incident, but certainly some scrupulous elements were there who attacked the employees of the SGPC.
When the Jathedar was apprised that a senior SGPC employee and manager Golden Temple, Partap Singh was seen brandishing naked sword in full public view in the Akal Takht and shouting loudly which led the situation to unfortunate situation, Jathedar said that such aspects would not be ignored during the course of investigation.
Punjab Police ADCP Parampal Singh said that 21 accused are allegedly responsible for the situation at Akal Takht, were arrested on Friday evening and sent to Amritsar Central Jail. He said that 28 accused were booked and the remaining would be arrested soon. The incident, aired on numerous TV channels, left the tourists scary. A large number of visiting tourists and devotes had checked out of their hotels located around the Golden Temple in the walled city soon after the incident, said hotel owner Palli Khurana.