Man beaten to death after alleged 'sacrilege' attempt at Golden Temple in India

A man has been beaten to death after an alleged sacrilege attempt at one of Sikhism’s holiest shrines in India. The incident took place at Golden Temple in Amritsar on Saturday evening. It was captured on camera as the evening prayers were being broadcast on television.

The video shows a man jumping over the railing of the sanctum sanctorum inside the Golden Temple during the daily evening prayer.

As per witnesses, he then tried to grab the sword kept in front of the Guru Granth Sahib, which is the holy book of the Sikhs. He was stopped by those who were present.

Parminder Singh Bhandal, the Deputy Commissioner of Police of Amritsar, was quoted by news agency PTI as saying, "This evening during prayers, a man jumped the fence and entered the enclosed area. The congregation was offering prayers and bowing down. The man, about 20 to 25 years of age who had a yellow cloth tied on his head jumped the fence... the people inside held him and escorted him out to the corridor where there was a violent altercation and he died."

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The incident has sparked tensions over an extremely sensitive issue just before elections in Punjab.

Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi condemned the incident as he directed the state police authorities to thoroughly investigate the entire matter

(With inputs from agencies)