Desecration of holy book: Two 'accused' brothers released

Two brothers arrested in connection with a recent incident of sacrilege here were released on Monday, with police now saying there was not enough evidence against them, a day after the case was handed over to CBI by the Punjab government. Their release came after Punjab police moved an application under Section 169 of CrPC (deficient evidence) in the court of Judicial Magistrate Satish Kumar here. "We don't require their judicial custody, but they will remain part of the probe," ADGP IPS Sahota said.

Rupinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh, brothers of Panjgrain Khurd village, were arrested by police 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 both the brothers, said police had moved an application before the court here stating that they don't have sufficient evidence against the duo. "Both the brothers have been released from the Fardikot jail this evening," he said.

Earlier, the brothers alongwith their family members and activists of Sikh organisations, including hardliners had claimed that the two were falsely implicated by police in the sacrilege case. After their arrest, police had claimed foreign hand behind the incident of sacrilege with connections linked to Australia and Dubai.

Meanwhile, Sahota said "the investigation was under process."