The National Commission of Minorities on Sunday took suo motu cognisance of the two alleged attempts of sacrilege in Punjab and asked the state’s chief secretary to submit a report on the incidents by December 26, reported The Times of India.

On December 18, a man was killed in an altercation with devotees at the Golden Temple in Amritsar after he had tried to pick up a kirpan (ceremonial sword) kept in front of the Sikh holy text Guru Granth Sahib.

The next day, another man was beaten to death in Nizampur village of Kapurthala district after villagers saw him disrespecting the Sikh religious flag Nishan Sahib. However, the police have denied the allegations of sacrilege in this case. They have said that man had tried to break into a gurdwara, but nothing was stolen.

On Sunday, chairperson of the National Commission of Minorities Iqbal Singh Lalpura said that the alleged incidents of sacrilege and killing of the accused were matters of grave concern and needed urgent attention.

Meanwhile, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu demanded capital punishment for the accused, reported ANI.

“Wherever sacrilege takes place, be it of Quran Sharif or Bhagavad Gita or Guru Granth Sahib, they [the guilty] should be hanged in public,” he said, while addressing a rally in Malerkotla district on Sunday.

Sidhu alleged that there was a “conspiracy to eradicate a community”, and Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims should unite to defeat such forces, according to the Hindustan Times.

On Monday, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami demanded that the Punjab government should start an inquiry into the alleged sacrilege attempt at Kapurthala gurdwara in Nizampur.

He said that the management body of gurdwaras in Punjab would set up an inquiry panel to investigate the alleged sacrilege incident at the Golden Temple. The state government has already formed a to inquire into the Golden Temple incident. The team has been asked to submit a report by Tuesday.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has said that the death of the man has made the investigation into the case difficult.

“The accused [person] slept outside Akal Takht Sahib during his stay inside the Golden Temple premises, before committing the sacrilege,” he had said. “There must be something behind this incident. We have been trying to retrace his movement in Amritsar. He entered the Golden Temple alone.”