A special investigation team (SIT) of the Punjab Police on Thursday arrested Satinder Singh Kohli, a former internal auditor of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), in connection with the alleged disappearance of 328 “saroops” of the Guru Granth Sahib.
He was held from Chandigarh, the first arrest in the case. Ruling AAP’s state general secretary and media in-charge Baltej Pannu said the SIT arrested him from a hotel. The SIT was constituted on December 23 to probe the alleged disappearance of 328 “saroops” of the Guru Granth Sahib from SGPC records. Police sources said more arrests were likely to take place in coming days. The issue had first surfaced in 2020. A case in this regard was lodged on December 7, which followed the constitution of the SIT. Five Sikh high priests, including the Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Kuldip Singh Gargaj, had termed the development as government interference in Sikh matters. Pannu said a petition regarding the disappearance of the “saroops” was earlier filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
“Following the court’s directions, an FIR was registered and the SIT constituted to probe the matter. Satinder Singh Kohli, who is considered close to SAD president Sukhbir Badal, had been auditing SGPC accounts for several years,” he said. “His name is mentioned in the same FIR in which 16 persons, including SGPC officials, have been named. Look-out circulars (LOCs) were issued against all accused. The SIT is now questioning them,” added Pannu.
Kohli’s firm — SS Kohli and Associates — was hired in 2009 for internal audit and computerisation of accounts, for which it was paid Rs 3.5 lakh per month. An Akal Takht probe report had stated that his firm failed to prevent the misappropriation of the “saroops”. In 2020, the SGPC terminated the firm’s services and passed a resolution to recover 75 per cent of the payment made. Kohli was produced in an Amritsar court, where the police sought a 12-day remand. However, the duty magistrate granted a six-day police remand