KABUL/NEW DELHI, Oct 5: A group of heavily armed persons entered the Gurdwara Karte Parwan in Taliban-ruled Kabul and took three guards there into custody before smashing the CCTV cameras and leaving the premises, an Afghan Sikh gentleman told UNI from Kabul.
Gurnam Singh, an Afghan Sikh living in Kabul, told UNI on phone that some unidentified armed persons, around 15-16 in number, entered the Gurdwara Karte Parwan in the late afternoon and “bound the hands and feet of the three guards there”.
“They smashed the CCTVs on their way out. We have informed the local authorities and they are here at the Gurdwara and inspecting the damage,” Gurnam Singh said on phone.
He said the three guards were Muslim. The armed men entered the Gurdwara at around 3.15 pm. He said the CCTV cameras are expensive, costing over one and a half lakh rupees. Earlier, Puneet Singh Chandhok, President Indian World Forum, said that a group of “unidentified heavily armed Taliban officials” entered the Gurdwara Karte Parwan in Kabul.
He said “they have taken the community present in the Gurdwara into custody,” which earlier was mistaken to be members of the Afghan Sikh community.
“It is being alleged by the locals on the ground that the officials have broken the CCTV cameras of the Gurdwara and vandalized the Gurdwara,” Chandhok said.
“The local Gurdwara Management is rushing to the spot,” he added. In a tweet, he said that the unidentified men “not only abused the sanctity of the holy place but also vandalised it.”
He requested the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs to look into the safety and well-being of “our Hindu and Sikh brethren living there.” (UNI)
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