The formation of a Special Investigation Team by the Punjab Police to track 328 missing Saroops of Shri Guru Granth Sahib has intensified scrutiny of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and raised urgent questions about why the premier Sikh religious body failed to recover these sacred scriptures over the past six years. The matter, which has deeply disturbed the Sikh community both in India and abroad, first came to light in May 2020 when SGPC employee Kanwaljeet Singh discovered significant discrepancies during a routine retirement audit. What initially appeared to be 267 missing Saroops was later revised to a staggering 328 holy scriptures unaccounted for in SGPC’s records.
Nearly five years after the discovery, the Punjab Bureau of Investigation formed a Special Investigation Team in late December 2025 to probe the matter. The SIT has already made two arrests—Satinder Singh Kohli, a former SGPC chartered accountant, and Kanwaljit Singh, both former employees of the organization. The team has also requested comprehensive records from SGPC offices in Amritsar and Chandigarh as part of its investigation. The swift action by the SIT stands in stark contrast to six years of apparent inaction by the SGPC, raising fundamental questions about institutional accountability and competence.
The formation of the SIT has brought into sharp focus a troubling question that resonates throughout the global Sikh community: If a police investigation team can actively pursue this case, why could the SGPC—the constitutional body responsible for the management of Gurdwaras and custodian of these sacred scriptures—not track down these missing Saroops in six long years? For the Sikh community worldwide, this question is not merely administrative but strikes at the heart of their faith and trust in religious institutions. Preliminary findings suggest that SGPC employees had systematically bypassed established procedures, allegedly distributing Saroops to VIPs and influential individuals without following proper protocols. More disturbingly, they failed to maintain records of monetary offerings (bheta) associated with these distributions. The investigation indicates that this was not merely clerical negligence but potentially involved complicity at higher levels within the organization.
SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami has characterized the matter as financial misappropriation by staff members, claiming that action had already been taken based on recommendations from an Akal Takht inquiry panel. However, critics argue that whatever internal action was taken proved woefully inadequate, as the Saroops remain missing and the community remains without answers. The SGPC’s claim that internal inquiries were conducted rings hollow when not a single Saroop has been publicly accounted for or recovered in six years. During this entire period, no transparent investigation was conducted, no detailed public report was issued, no comprehensive accountability measures were implemented, and the community was kept in the dark about the fate of their Guru.
For Sikhs worldwide, Guru Granth Sahib is not merely a religious text but the eternal living Guru, deserving of the highest reverence and protection. The disappearance of 328 Saroops represents not just a management failure but a profound breach of sacred trust that has shaken the faith of millions in the institutions meant to safeguard their spiritual heritage. The Sikh diaspora, particularly in countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, has expressed deep concern and anguish over this matter. Social media platforms and community forums have been flooded with demands for complete transparency, thorough investigation, and strict accountability for all those responsible. The community’s distress is compounded by the realization that it took intervention by state police, rather than action by their own religious body, to initiate serious investigative efforts.
The contrast between the SIT’s recent activity and SGPC’s six-year inability to resolve the matter has led to calls for systemic reform within the organization. Many community members are questioning whether the SGPC, in its current form, is capable of fulfilling its sacred responsibility as the custodian of Sikh religious institutions and artifacts. Critical questions demand answers: Where are the 328 missing Saroops? Who authorized their distribution? Were they sold, and if so, to whom and for what amounts? What happened to the monetary offerings that should have been recorded? And most importantly, why did SGPC’s internal mechanisms fail so completely for six years? The fact that state police intervention was necessary to pursue what should have been SGPC’s highest priority reveals an institution that has lost sight of its core responsibility.
The Sikh community, both in India and abroad, stands united in its demand for complete transparency in every detail of the SIT investigation, full accountability for all individuals responsible regardless of their position, recovery of every single missing Saroop, systemic reform of SGPC’s management systems to prevent such failures in the future, and independent oversight mechanisms to ensure SGPC fulfills its sacred duty. The formation of this SIT is not a moment for celebration but rather a stark reminder of institutional failure. As the SIT investigation proceeds, the community awaits answers with a mixture of hope and pain. The resolution of this case will require more than just recovering the missing Saroops or punishing a few employees. It demands a comprehensive overhaul of SGPC’s inventory management systems, strict enforcement of accountability protocols, and restoration of the community’s faith in the institutions that claim to serve Sikhism’s highest principles.
The SGPC was established to serve as the custodian of Sikh religious institutions and heritage. This catastrophic failure to protect 328 Saroops of Guru Granth Sahib represents a fundamental breach of that sacred trust. The Sikh community will not rest until every one of the 328 missing Saroops is accounted for and those responsible are held accountable. Six years have been lost to SGPC’s inaction. The community will not accept further delays in achieving justice. Until every Saroop is recovered and full accountability is established, this wound to the Sikh community’s collective conscience will continue to fester. The eyes of millions remain fixed on Punjab, waiting for justice and accountability that has been delayed far too long. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.