Amritsar (Pb), Oct 16 (PTI) A second arrest was made on Saturday in connection with the lynching of a Dalit man at a farmers' protest site at the Singhu border, police said.
Narain Singh, belonging to the Sikhs' Nihang order, was arrested by the Amritsar Rural police at Amarkot village in Amritsar district, they said.
On Friday, Sarabjit Sigh was the first person to be arrested in connection with the case.
A court in Sonipat on Saturday remanded him to police custody for seven days.
Shortly after being taken into custody, Narain Singh claimed that he had surrendered before the police.
He claimed that before coming to Amritsar, he informed the SSP Amritsar (Rural) on a call that he wanted to surrender. Singh claimed that he had asked the SSP to allow him to visit the Akal Takht but police took him into custody at Amarkot village near Jandaila town, 25 km away from Amritsar city.
Before his arrest, talking to the media, Narain Singh said that Lakhbir Singh, who was lynched, had been "punished" allegedly for sacrilege.
He said that the accused of the Bargari sacrilege incident in Punjab had not yet been arrested but now if somebody were to commit such a heinous crime, they would be punished on the spot.
Paramjit Kaur, the wife of Narain Singh, was present when he was taken into police custody.
Kaur said that she was "proud" of her husband as "he has punished the guilty person responsible for sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib. If someone commits such a heinous crime, now I will punish him."
Many Sikh outfits honoured Narain Singh with a robe of honour and even garlanded him with currency notes when he paid obeisance in the Amarkot Gurdwara.
Later, addressing the media, SSP Amritsar (Rural) Rakesh Kaushal said, "We had specific information about Narain Singh, who was coming to Amarkot village, and his plan to visit the Akal Takht Sahib."
"Working on the basis of these inputs, his entire village was cordoned off. The heavy police deployment forced him to surrender. He agreed to surrender before the police at the village gurdwara where he was later arrested," the SSP said.
The officer said that since the crime was committed at Singhu border, the police station concerned in Haryana was informed and police were reaching Amritsar to take the custody of the accused.
During the SSP's press conference, Narain Singh was allowed to share his viewpoint with the media and he said he was among those to "punish" Lakhbir Singh for allegedly desecrating the holy book.
The body of Lakhbir Singh, a labourer from Punjab's Tarn Taran district, was found on Friday tied to a barricade at the Delhi-Haryana border, where the anti-farm law protesters have been camping, with a hand chopped off and multiple wounds caused by sharp-edged weapons.
Hours after the macabre crime, Sarabjit Sigh, wearing the blue robes of the Nihang order, claimed that he had "punished" the victim for "desecrating" a Sikh holy book.
