Dera follower accused in sacrilege case fatally shot in Punjab's Muktsar

Archit Watts
Tribune News Service
Muktsar, December 3 

A suspect in a sacrilege case in Muktsar was fatally shot dead by some unidentified gunmen in Muktsar’s Bhundar village, 

The victim in the case was 40-year-old Charan Dass, a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda who stands accused in a sacrilege case in the district. He was at his grocery shot when an attacker posing as a customer who wanted tea and sugar pulled out a gun and fired.

He was out on bail when he was killed, police said.

“When the victim was packing the items in a carry bag, one of the attackers shot him close to his eye. The victim’s mother was also sitting at the shop, but she could not see the attackers’ faces. The other assailant was waiting outside,” said Muktsar's Senior Superintendent of Police Sarabjit Singh said. 

The victim was taken to the civil hospital in Gidderbaha and from there to a hospital in Bathinda but died before he could get there.

Police have dispatched additional security around the village.

SSP Singh said investigators were now trying to get hold of any images from security cameras that could help identify the attackers.

Dass and his sister-in-law, Sapna Rani, are accused of trying to take the ‘sarup’ of Guru Granth Sahib from a village gurdwara. They were allegedly caught after a CCTV camera in the village allegedly caught them in the act and a local granthi raised an alarm.