Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar on Wednesday was questioned by the Special Investigation Team of Punjab Police for allegedly facilitating a meeting of the then deputy chief minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal, and rapist baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim at his flat in Mumbai.
The SIT is investigating the 2015 police firing incidents at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura in the state following cases of sacrilege in Faridkot that had left at least two dead. Akshay Kumar had recently denied any connection with Gurmeet Ram Rahim stating that he had never met the rapist baba.
His recent social mpost had said, “It has come to my knowledge that some rumours and false statements are being loosely made on social media about my involvement with a person named Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, in the context of a fictitious meeting involving Sh. Sukhbir Singh Badal. With all humility, I would like to state the following facts.”
On Wednesday, the actor arrived at Chandigarh airport before heading straight to the Punjab Police headquarters at sector-9 in the state capital. The actor refused to answer any questions from reporters.
In October 2015, two people were killed in police firing in Behbal Kalan village in Moga district and scores of others were injured in violence across Punjab as protests erupted over the sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib.
An inquiry commission formed by the new Congress government led by Capt Amarinder Singh had found that sacrilege incidents were linked to the Akal Takht’s pardon to rapist Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a blasphemy case. A report by NDTV said that the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had played a crucial role securing rapist godman’s release. Prakash Singh Badal’s son, Sukhbir Badal, who was the home minister of Punjab then, too was aware of the police action at Kotkapura.