Punjab issues SOPs for sacrilege investigations

Chandigarh: Digital sacrilege, cryptocurrency transactions, probability of any juvenile being manipulated or lured to commit sacrilege, psychiatric assessment of the accused exhibiting signs of mental instability are among scores of aspects investigators have been asked to focus on while investigating cases of sacrilege in the state as Punjab prepares to implement the new anti-sacrilege law.In a standard operating procedure (SOP) on investigation of cases of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, other Gurbani publications like Gutka Sahib and other holy scriptures including the Bible, Quran and Bhagwat Gita held sacred by its proponents, the Punjab Bureau of Investigation (PBI), while referring to "digital sacrilege" and noting that "given the speed, reach, and permanence of digital transmission, even a single malicious post can have widespread consequences", has directed that "the investigating officer should make an urgent request to the concerned platform for preservation of offensive content, including the preservation of Exif data, file origin metadata, device ID, before it is deleted." The investigators would need to review the reach and velocity of the viral post; examine communal tension probability; and issue official clarification quickly whether the post is fake or real, as per the SOP issued by Punjab Bureau of Investigation Director L K Yadav. It also tells police to carry out social media monitoring, while noting that it is "necessary to track hashtags related to the incident of sacrilege, as often perpetrators or instigators drop hints online before or after the act of sacrilege." To get at the bottom of the financial trail to lay bare the deeper conspiracy behind the sacrilege, the investigators have been asked to follow a layered approach that tracks funds from origin to final destination and examine cryptocurrency transaction trails to identify wallet addresses, trace fund movements across blockchain networks, and correlate on-chain transaction data with off-chain intelligence to establish financial linkages between the accused persons and the proceeds of crime. "The analysis should be carried forward to its logical conclusion by identifying any interaction of suspect wallets with centralised cryptocurrency exchanges, with a view to obtaining KYC details of the concerned account holders through lawful procedures. For this purpose, assistance of advanced blockchain analytics tools such as Chainalysis or Bubblemaps may be taken to effectively trace fund flows, identify clustering patterns, and uncover hidden relationships between wallet addresses," reads the SOP. In a scenario where the accused is a juvenile, the SOP among other things notes, "Investigation should focus to lay bare any conspiracy and ascertain if a juvenile has been manipulated or lured to commit the crime of sacrilege or is a result of innocuous act on part of juvenile." To lay bare any conspiracy behind commission of sacrilegious act where the suspect/accused exhibits signs of mental health issues, the investigating officers have been asked to get a psychiatric evaluation of such suspect/accused conducted by a duly constituted medical board comprising qualified mental health professionals, including at least one expert forensic psychiatrist. "The Investigating Officer should determine the nature of offence committed, i.e. if the act was a crime of opportunity, a mental health-related incident or a premeditated attempt to incite unrest, or if the incident falls under natural/accidental cause; or negligence; or intentional sacrilege (Beadbi)," reads the SOP. It adds, "The Investigating Officer must check for similar incidents of sacrilege for pattern recognition to determine if it was a coordinated effort to incite unrest." It also directs, "The first responder(s) should immediately proceed to secure the location and cordon off the place of incident (scene of crime) using a ‘dual perimeter', inner for securing evidence and outer to control crowd as people gather quickly in cases of sacrilege." The investigating officers have been directed to ensure the respectful handling of the ‘Angs' of Guru Granth Sahib or other sacred material. It also notes that before starting the process of evidence collection, high-resolution photographs of the scene of crime should be taken from all sides, and the scene of crime should be thoroughly videographed. "Proper documentation should be made of the condition of the ‘Angs' of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji or other sacred material found at the scene of crime, including high-resolution photography of recovered ‘Angs' of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji," it adds. The investigators have been asked to ensure that in case of any threat to life of a witness or his family member during or after investigation/trial, appropriate measures are taken in accordance with the Punjab Witness Protection Scheme 2025 notified by the govt for protection of vulnerable witness or his family members in case of threat perception to their life, reputation or property. Upon filing of the chargesheet, the investigators have been directed to simultaneously initiate a proposal for grant of sanction for prosecution, through respective Commissioner of Police or Senior Superintendent of Police, to the state govt (Department of Home Affairs) through the PBI. Stressing on time-bound investigation, it directs that investigation of a criminal case shall be completed within the period of 90/60 days, as the case may be. For speedy and expeditious trials, it notes, "The swift and expeditious trial of criminal cases require presence of prosecution witnesses particularly Investigating Officers/Police Officers/Officials before the trial court to timely record their evidence during criminal trial, at the first available opportunity."