"Army Officers Are Misleading": Chief Granthi Refutes Claim of Air Defense Deployment at Golden Temple, Calls for Probe

Amritsar (Uttam Hindu): Chief Granthi Giani Raghbir Singh of the Sikh holy place Golden Temple has completely rejected the claim of Indian Army's Air Defense Director General Lieutenant General Sumer Ivan D'Cunha, in which he had said that air defense guns were deployed on the Golden Temple to protect against attacks from Pakistan and for this permission was taken from the Chief Granthi and the management.

'Army officers are lying', demand for investigation

Giani Raghbir Singh completely denied this claim and said that he was not present in the country at the time when permission is being sought. He has accused the army officer of lying and has demanded an investigation into this matter from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

Apart from him, Akal Takht's acting Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj has also termed the army officer's claim as false. The SGPC chief has also clarified that no such permission was taken and no such incident took place.

Earlier on Monday, the SGPC had issued a statement saying that neither Pakistan nor the Indian army can even think of attacking the Golden Temple. The organization had said that the Golden Temple is a life-saving place where no army can even think of attacking.

It is worth noting that Lieutenant General Sumer Ivan D'Cunha is the Director General of Air Defense of the Indian Army. He had recently said in an interview that the whole of Pakistan is within India's range and if India wanted to attack, the Pakistani army would not be able to escape even if it shifted its headquarters anywhere. He had also said that the Pakistani army would have to find a 'deep pit' in which it could hide. However, his claim of gun deployment at the Golden Temple has now been directly challenged by the Sikh religious leadership.