Sandeep Bareta, one of main conspirators in 2015 Punjab sacrilege incidents, held at B'luru airport
Chandigarh, May 23: Sandeep Bareta, one of the main conspirators in the 2015 sacrilege cases in Punjab, has been held at the Bengaluru airport, police said on Tuesday.
Bareta, who was one of the accused in the incidents related to the desecration of a religious text in Faridkot in 2015, was declared a proclaimed offender. A lookout notice was also issued against him by the Punjab Police.
A Punjab Police team has been sent to bring Bareta to the state for questioning.
The incidents -- the theft of a "bir" (copy) of the Guru Ganth Sahib, putting up handwritten sacrilegious posters and torn pages of the holy book found scattered at Bargari -- took place in Faridkot in 2015.
The incidents had led to anti-sacrilege protests in Faridkot. In the police firing at the protesters in October 2015, two people were killed in Behbal Kalan while some people were injured at Kotkapura in Faridkot.
"Proclaimed Offender in #Bargari Sacrilege cases 'Sandeep Bareta' has been arrested at #Bangalore airport today in pursuance of lookout notice issued by Punjab Police," the police wrote on Twitter.
"Police party sent for getting the accused for his production before learned court and seeking police remand for custodial interrogation," it added.
An investigation report of the Punjab Police on the 2015 sacrilege cases had pinned the blame on the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda sect for the incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Additional Director General of Police SPS Parmar was probing the sacrilege incidents.
Among the other accused, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim was also named in the three sacrilege incidents.
Along with Bareta, two other accused -- Harsh Dhuri and Pardeep Kler -- were declared proclaimed offenders.
The other accused in the three cases included Sukhjinder Singh alias Sunny, Shakti Singh, Baljit Singh, Randeep Singh alias Neela, Ranjit Singh alias Bhola and Nishan Singh.
Dera Sacha Sauda follower Mohinder Pal Bittu, who was a key accused in the sacrilege cases, was killed in the Nabha prison in Patiala by two inmates in 2019.
In 2015, the then SAD-BJP government handed over the three cases -- the theft of a "bir" of the Guru Granth Sahib from a Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara, putting up handwritten sacrilegious posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, and torn pages of the holy book found at Bargari -- to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Congress-led Punjab government, however, handed over the probe to an SIT of the state police in September 2018 after the Assembly passed a resolution, withdrawing consent to the CBI to investigate these cases, noting a lack of progress in the investigation.
Police party sent for getting the accused for his production before Learned Court and seeking police remand for custodial interrogation (2/2)
— Punjab Police India (@PunjabPoliceInd) May 23, 2023
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7 villages in Mysuru district compete for Rs 1 cr prize in central govt’s Model Solar Village scheme
Mysuru: Seven villages in Mysuru district have been selected as contestants to compete under the Central Government’s Model Solar Village initiative. The winning village will receive an incentive of Rs 1 crore from the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
According to a press release from the Mysuru division Engineer, Works and Maintenance, Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC), cited by Deccan Herald on Friday, the competition will started on July 1, 2025 and will run until December 31, 2025. At the end of the evaluation period, the village that demonstrates the highest adoption and usage of renewable energy will be declared the winner.
The selection of the participating villages—Varkodu, Bilikere, Gandhanahalli, Saligrama, Tandavapura, Mooguru, and Bettadapura—was finalised at a district-level committee (DLC) meeting chaired by the Regional Commissioner of Mysuru.
During the competition, a range of renewable energy initiatives will be implemented through the respective grama panchayats. “They are: installation of rooftop solar power units under Prime Minister's Solar Rooftop Scheme for houses. Encouragement of rooftop solar installation, without subsidy for other consumers; promotion of solar irrigation pump sets under Prime Minister's Solar Rooftop Scheme for houses. Encouragement of rooftop solar installation, without subsidy for other consumers; promotion of solar irrigation pump sets under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan scheme; installation of solar power units on government buildings with funding through Public-Private Partnership, RCSCO or budget grants; and installation of solar power units for drinking water facilities and street lights," the press note states.
“In the end of the contest, the village that uses the maximum renewable energy will be declared as the ‘Model Solar Village’, based on an evaluation,” the press release added.
