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Police still within Golden temple, says jathedar

Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh rejected Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal's claim that policemen did not enter the Golden temple on Friday night and said the police were still inside the temple complex and in its vicinity.

Talking to reporters in Amritsar, the jathedar reiterated his demand for their withdrawal from certain areas of the temple.

Addressing a gathering at Bholath in Kapurthala district yesterday, the chief minister had claimed the police would not enter the Golden temple as long as the Akalis held power in the state.

The jathedar however said members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee task force were working with the policemen, who are in plain clothes, within the temple complex.

The policemen inside were positioned outside the Teja Singh Samundari Hall, the Guru Nanak Niwas, where the SGPC offices are located, the Guru Ramdas Sarai and the Hargobing Niwas, Ranjit Singh said.

The policemen outside, manning the entrances to the shrine, were in uniform, he said.

Meanwhile, an SGPC spokesperson refuted claims made by the district administration that the committee had been informed about the entry of policemen into the complex. The district administration had only discussed security arrangements for the February 10 executive committee meeting in Amristsar, he said.

The meeting hangs in balance now now and the SGPC office-bearers have locked the committee office. The meeting was to have taken place following a directive from the Gurdwara Judicial Commission to SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra.

Meanwhile, state Finance Minister Kanwaljit Singh, speaking to reporters in Patiala, refuted reports that the Golden temple had been surrounded by the police. He said the media had blown the situation in Amritsar out of proportion.

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