The special investigation team (SIT) probing the December 7 FIR regarding the disappearance of 328 saroops of Guru Granth Sahib, has told the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) is not cooperating in the investigation.
An affidavit filed by Harminder Singh Sandhu, assistant commissioner of police (detective, Amritsar City) and member of the SIT, states that the police have sent 14 letters to the SGPC seeking relevant information and records. “However, the SGPC has neither provided the requisite records nor cooperated,” the affidavit reads.
The police response has come following a March 20 order from the HC seeking details of the investigation, the specific allegations against each petitioner, and the evidence collected against them.
The HC order had come following petitions from various accused persons, including one Kulwant Singh, seeking either anticipatory or regular bail. In February, the court had granted protection from arrest to former joint secretary Gurbachan Singh, former clerk Baj Singh and bookbinder (jild saaz) Kulwant Singh, who had approached the HC in January. While allowing the protection, the court had observed that the FIR had been registered after a lot of delay and there was no proper explanation for the same. It also noted that the FIR had not been registered by the SGPC, which was responsible for religious affairs.
The matter regarding the disappearance of saroops from SGPC’s publication house in Amritsar had come to light in June 2020. The human rights advocacy group — Punjab Human Rights Organisation — exposed the matter by writing a letter to the Akal Takht and the Punjab chief secretary.
Over five years later, the Amritsar police registered a case on December 7, 2025, against 16 people on the complaint of sacked Golden Temple hazuri raagi Bhai Baldev Singh Wadala, who is the head of the Sikh Sadbhawna Dal, a private organisation. The FIR was registered under Sections 295 (injuring or defiling a place of worship or sacred object with intent to insult a religion), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 465 (forgery) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, apart from Section 5 of the Jagat Jot Shri Gurugranth Sahib Satkar Act, 2008.
The director, Bureau of Investigation, has constituted an SIT to probe the case. The SIT comprises the Rupnagar DIG as chairman and Khanna SSP, Patiala SSP (detective), Mohali SP (special branch), Amritsar ACP (detective) and Amritsar C-division’s SHO as members.
