Amritsar: A 25-year-old man who attempted to desecrate Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs,  inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar died in the altercation on Saturday. After the incident,  security has been beefed up at the temple by the Punjab Police.  

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi condemned the sacrilege bid at the  Golden Temple and directed state police to "thoroughly probe the matter and find the real conspirators".

ACP Sanjeev Kumar told news agency ANI that after yesterday's incident, security arrangements have been made at Golden Temple. 

"Today, one 24-25-year-old man barged inside (Golden Temple) where the holy book (Guru Granth Sahib) is kept. He tried desecrating it with a sword; was taken out by Sangat people; died in the altercation. Body sent to Civil Hospital", said DCP Parminder Singh Bhandal.

Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh in a statement sai,"On sacrilege incident: Patience of Sikhs to tolerate is over, we will not tolerate this further at any cost."

An alleged attempt of sacrilege by a young person reported inside sanctum sanctorum of Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar today evening.@SGPC sevadar apprehended the accused , police was also called at #SGPC office for further action aganist the accused.#GoldenTemple
v @PTC_Network pic.twitter.com/VsPOC0GtvJ

— Ravinder Singh Robin ਰਵਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ رویندرسنگھ روبن (@rsrobin1) December 18, 2021

Ahead of the Punjab Assembly Elections in 2022, the issue is likely to create a political storm in the state.  It may be recalled former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh was under pressure to take action on incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib as well as the police firing on those protesting the same in October 2015 when the SAD-BJP alliance was in power. 

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had quashed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigations into one of the incidents, where the police were alleged to have opened fire on protesters in Kotkapura in 2015.

There are three cases of sacrilege in the state. In the first case, a copy of the holiest of the scriptures of Sikhs the Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot district on June 1, 2015. In the second case, two abusive posters targeting Sikhs and a couple of Sikh preachers were found pasted in a samadhi near the same Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in the same year. 

Thirdly,  torn pages (angs) of Guru Granth Sahib, revered as living Guru by the Sikhs, were found scattered in front of the Bargari village gurdwara and on the nearby street.