CHANDIGARH: A video recently surfaced on the world wide web, showing a crowd dragging four Sikh men out of a vehicle and beating them up at Chainpura, Ajmer. The victims were reportedly 'sewadars' from a gurdwara at Alwar in Rajasthan, and were collecting donations. Outraged by the incident, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh spoke to Rajasthan counterpart Vasundhara Raje, seeking intervention to ensure a probe.
Chainpura residents alleged that the four men had molested their women. The police had taken them into custody, but later released them saying they were not involved in the said case. Amrinder Singh expressed concern over media reports that there were “efforts” to give the incident a “communal” hue. He also was dismayed with the fact that the local police was not even aware of the incident until the video brought it to light. Amrinder said he was “shocked” at reports that a police constable, who arrived at the scene eventually, “instigated” the crowd to “teach the Sikh men a lesson” instead of coming to their rescue.
The CM said that in fact the victims were 'sewadars' and had stopped at Rajgarh village in Ajmer district to collect alms made the incident even more condemnable. He added that such “intolerance” had no place in a civilised society and any “attempt to create communal strife” should be nipped in the bud. The Chief Minister said the Rajasthan government needed to order an inquiry to fix culpability and ensure the culprits are duly punished.
