Holy book row: 2 ‘accused’ brothers released

Two brothers arrested in connection with a recent incident of sacrilege in Faridkot were released on Monday. The police are now saying that there was not enough evidence against the duo. The police’s response comes a day after the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Punjab government.

Their release came after the Punjab police moved an application under Section 169 of the CrPC (deficient evidence) in the court of Judicial Magistrate Satish Kumar. “We don’t require their judicial custody, but they will remain part of the probe,” said ADGP IPS Sahota.

Rupinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh, both brothers, were arrested in connection with the first incident of sacrilege of holy book at Bargari village in Faridkot that had triggered protests by Sikhs and hardliners across Punjab.

Shivkartar Singh, advocate of the brothers, said the police had moved an application before the court, stating that they did not have sufficient evidence against the duo. “Both the brothers have been released from the Fardikot jail this evening,” he said.

Earlier, the brothers along with their family and activists of Sikh organisations had claimed that the two were falsely implicated by police in the sacrilege case.