Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], May 28 : Punjab government-appointed special investigation team (SIT) probing the alleged disappearance of 328 sacred saroops of Guru Granth Sahib visited the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) office in Chandigarh to request several documents required in probing the case.
Superintendent of Police (SP) in Special Investigation Team (SIT), Gurbans Singh Bains on Thursday said that a total of 16 individuals have been arrested in the case. He noted that out of these, two accused have already been arrested, nine have joined the investigation, and the anticipatory bail pleas of some accused are currently pending before the High Court.
"Our affidavits have already been submitted to the High Court," the senior police official said.
The SIT had informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that SGPC was allegedly not cooperating with the investigation
SP Bains added that the SIT team have been requesting several documents from the SGPC office from time and again, but certain highly relevant documents were not provided to them and the SIT team visited the SGPC office to collect those documents.
"Today, we needed several documents for this investigation. We have been requesting these documents from the SGPC from time to time. Previously, we received some documents, but certain highly relevant documents were not provided to us. To collect those, the SIT team has come here today," the Superintendent of Police said.
He further underlined that even today, only photocopies of certain documents are provided. Bains stressed that the original versions of the documents are extremely important for the investigation of the case, and hence the SIT team has urged for the original documents.
He added that the SIT team is now considering taking the matter to the court, highlighting that a written request for the documents was also submitted to the SGPC office, yet the team received only certified photocopies.
"We provided the list and specified which documents we need in original and which ones we can accept as certified photocopies. We have received the certified copies, but we haven't received the original documents we need, so we will move the court regarding that," he said.