Event
CM Mann's 169 saroops claim at Muktsar and the government's U-turns
Mann said the SIT had found 169 of the 328 missing saroops at a shrine near Banga. The shrine denied it, and within days his Finance Minister twice changed the government's line.
Who: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, the management of Rasokhana Shri Nabh Kanwal Raja Sahib near Banga, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, and opposition leaders.
What: On January 14, 2026, speaking at the Maghi Mela in Muktsar, Mann said the Special Investigation Team probing the 328 missing saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib had found 169 at a religious place near Banga in Nawanshahr. He said records existed for only 30, leaving 139 unaccounted for. The shrine's management said every saroop was accounted for and asked local political leaders whether they stood with the government or the shrine. On January 18 the Banga MLA, Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, resigned as chairman of the Punjab State Container and Warehousing Corporation, saying he was hurt by the doubts raised about the shrine. On January 19 Cheema visited the shrine with Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains and MP Malvinder Singh Kang. He said its records were correct, that no case had been filed against its committee, and that the gap with the Chief Minister's account was a miscommunication. On January 20 Cheema posted that it was the SGPC, not the shrine, that had found the records in order, and that the SIT would continue its probe. The shrine's committee said Dhami had visited a day earlier. Reports called this a second U-turn and said the statement did not go down well with the party's top leadership. The Akali Dal's Daljit Singh Cheema demanded Mann's resignation, and Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira demanded an apology.
Where: Muktsar, and the shrine near Banga in the Doaba region.
Why it mattered: The 328 saroops figure comes from an inquiry set up by the Akal Takht under advocate Dr Ishar Singh. Police registered a case in Amritsar in December 2025 against 16 people, including the SGPC's former chief secretary, while the SGPC called the matter financial misappropriation rather than sacrilege. The episode showed how contested the word missing is: a saroop may be physically present and yet lack an SGPC record.
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Sources
- Govt U-turn on Banga shrine days after CM Mann's missing saroop claim, The Tribune. tribuneindia.com
- Another U-turn, Cheema says SGPC gave shrine clean chit in missing saroops case, The Tribune. tribuneindia.com
- Missing saroops case: Records at Nawanshahr shrine found to be correct, says FM Cheema, ThePrint (PTI). theprint.in
- SGPC slams govt move to register FIR on missing Guru Granth Sahib saroops as political conspiracy, The Tribune. tribuneindia.com