Punjab SIT summons Akshay Kumar in sacrilege probe case

The special investigation team (SIT) probing the police firing and subsequent deaths in the wake of the Bargari sacrilege case in Punjab on Sunday issued summons to Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar for questioning.

Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal, too, have been summoned by the SIT. Akshay Kumar has been asked to appear on November 21 in Amritsar. The father-son duo will appear separately before Kumar’s appearance.

The Justice Ranjit Singh Commission, set up on the sacrilege incidents, had said that Akshay Kumar was involved in the mediation between the government and the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda over granting of pardon to its beleaguered chief from the Akal Takht — the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs.

Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh had dressed up like the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, which had annoyed the Sikhs.

The summon orders were issued separately to the three on behalf of the SIT by senior IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh. Singh said the summons relate to investigation of cases originating from various incidents of sacrilege in 2015 require attendance relating to the Bargari sacrilege case, Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura police firing incidents.

The five-member SIT was set up by the Captain Amarinder Singh government in September this year, soon after issuance of a notification to withdraw investigation of sacrilege incidents of Guru Granth Sahib from the CBI. Former CM Parkash Singh Badal had not appeared before the Commission, saying his party had already rejected the constitution of the commission.