Sikh man with gun at rally to remain in custody

Balbinder Singh, a man arrested by Kolkata Police for carrying a gun during BJP’s protest rally in Kolkata on Thursday. Meanwhile, Howrah court on Sunday ordered eight days of police custody for the accused Sikh man.

Howrah: A West Bengal court on Sunday ordered eight days of police custody for Balbinder Singh, who was arrested with weapons during the Nabanna rally at GT Road in Howrah.

Singh was taken to court a day prior to the appointed day. The judge gave the verdict in the Howrah court today.

While the state govt said that a political party is trying to give a communal colour to the incident, BJP alleged that the Sikh community was insulted as Singh’s turban fell off when he was being taken into custody.

The police, however, have denied the charge, saying that the turban fell off during the scuffle and that the man was asked to put it on before he was arrested.

A tweet from the state home ministry said, "The West Bengal government respects the people of the Sikh community. The police were acting in accordance with the law. A party is trying to give a communal colour to the whole matter. Bengali does not believe in this narrow ideology."

"Our Sikh brothers and sisters live peacefully in West Bengal. We respect their beliefs. A man was carrying illegal firearms in his procession and he was arrested with that weapon. But the matter is being twisted and the incident is being given a narrow biased communal colour. It is never our intention to hurt the sentiments of any community," the home ministry said.

Meanwhile, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, strongly condemned the arrest of Balbinder Singh. Today, a delegation led by Sirsa came to the Howrah court from Delhi. They immediately demanded the release of Balbinder Singh.

Sirsa demanded suspension of the cops claiming that they have disrespected the religion and sought Governor's intervention in this issue.

A video of Sikh man being manhandled by the West Bengal police during BJP’s Nabanna Chalo rally in Howrah sparked massive controversy after it went viral on social media.

Issuing a statement the police claimed that the person was carrying a firearm and that his headgear “had fallen off automatically in the scuffle that ensued”.

The BJP accused the Trinamool Congress government of hurting the sentiments of Sikhs with cricketer Harbhajan Singh urging Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to take a look into the matter.