Punjab Sacrilege Case: Akshay Kumar Appears Before SIT

Bollywood Actor Akshay Kumar on Wednesday appeared before a Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating police firing on mobs protesting the 2015 incidents of desecration of the Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab. The 51-year-old superstar was earlier summoned to Amritsar, but then given the option of appearing before the investigators in Chandigarh.

Akshay Kumar has been named in the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on the desecration incidents. He is accused of arranging a meeting between former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Dera Sacha Sauda sect leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

However, Akshay has denied any such meeting. He has also denied having ever met the Dera chief, who is serving a 20-year jail term in two rape cases.

The actor landed at Chandigarh airport on a chartered flight from Mumbai. While coming out of the airport, he told reporters in Punjabi: "Tussi vi aao, naal challo (you too, come along)." Then he drove straight to the State police headquarters. According to news agency IANS, the two-hour questioning that began at 9:45 am was recorded on video.

Akshay Kumar asked the investigators to show evidence of the allegations against him and not go by hearsay, said an officer who asked not to be identified.

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— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) November 12, 2018

He had tweeted his strong denial of the allegations on November 12, after the probe team summoned him along with former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.