Commotion at Golden Temple after SGPC ‘detains’ police team

Amritsar: A commotion broke out at the Golden Temple complex on Friday after a CIA police team detained two young men from the parikrama (circumambulation). As per sources, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) strongly objected to the police action, and allegedly detained members of the CIA team until the matter was clarified. According to sources, the SGPC task force later allegedly detained two police personnel and confined them to a room in protest against the action, which was allegedly carried out without any prior intimation to the committee.While confirming the incident, a senior SGPC official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that if the police needed to search for or arrest any individual within the Golden Temple premises, it was mandatory to inform the SGPC beforehand. He alleged that the police neither took the SGPC into confidence, nor informed the local Galiara police post, adding that the police personals were ‘stopped' for some time. Sources further said that the task force decided not to release the detained police personnel until senior police officials provided a clear explanation of the entire operation. The SGPC official accompanying the task force also confirmed that statements of the police personnel were formally recorded.However, SGPC secretary Partap Singh denied that the police took anyone into custody from the parikrama. He maintained that the arrests were made from the Ghanta Ghar side, outside the Golden Temple complex. MSID: 127799938 413 |