A group of “Nihangs” (Sikhs armed with traditional weapons and dressed in loose blue top) chopped off a police officer’s hand and injured three other Punjab policemen after being stopped from violating the lockdown in Patiala district, triggering a police operation in which shots were fired and 11 people arrested at a gurdwara.
In a late night information, doctors at the Chandigarh’s PGIMER reattached the 50-year-old ASI’s hand after an over seven-hour long surgery, officials said.
As many 11 people, including a woman, were arrested from a local Gurdwara after exchange of fire in connection with the attack on the police party at Patiala vegetable market in the morning, where the group fled after the 6.15 am incident in Sanaur town.
One of the arrested men suffered gunshot wound, while a mandi official was also hurt earlier. “We have recovered arms, Rs 39 lakh cash, traditional arms like irons rods, khanda, bhaale (javelin), and cannabis during the raid on the gurudwara. Weapons, including guns and petrol bombs, have also been recovered from the hideout,” said Patiala’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu.
Video clips regarding the incident have been doing the rounds on the social media, attracting criticism from all over the country, cutting across party lines.
Strongly condemning the attack, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has warned that anyone violating the curfew, imposed in the State since March 23 to check the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, would be strictly dealt with.
“The police personnel are risking their lives to save the people of Punjab and any attack on them would not be tolerated,” he said while directing the State Director General of Police (DGP) to come down heavily on those trying to disturb the law and order of the state at this difficult time.
One of the viral video clips shows the Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Harjeet Singh seeking help after the “Nihang” (members of a Sikh sect whose adherents carry traditional arms and wear blue robes) severed his hand with a sword. A man picks up the severed hand and gives it to the officer who was then taken away from the scene of incident on a two-wheeler.
The ASI was then rushed to Rajindra Hospital, from where he was referred to the PGIMER, Chandigarh, where he underwent seven-and-a-half hour long “successful” surgery, and will stay under observation.
With curfew restrictions in place amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, the police has put up barricades outside the wholesale market and entry was restricted to those having curfew passes.
“About four-five Nihangs arrived in an SUV and were told to stop by the mandi officials. They were asked to show curfew passes. But they rammed the vehicle against the gate and the barricades,” said the SSP.
“The Nihangs were spotted by the Mandi Board of the local vegetable market when they were trying to enter the market without passes. The assailants first thrashed the Mandi Board employees and then a scuffle broke out between them and the nearby police officers who had rushed to the scene. During the confrontation, the culprits took out their swords and chopped off the hand of ASI Harjeet Singh while the SHO Sadar Singh and ASI Raj Singh sustained injuries on their arms and legs,” said the government spokesperson.
After the attack, the men fled to the Gurudwara Khichdi Sahib, managed by them in Balbera village around 25 km from Patiala city, while being chased by the police. Senior police officers, including the SSP, then arrived at the scene and sent additional police forces to nab the culprits.
The accused were nabbed after the police party, led by IG Patiala Range Jatinder Aulakh and SSP Sidhu, were fired upon from inside the Nihang Dera Complex which also houses Khichdi Sahib Gurudwara.
“The operation followed several hours of stand-off and many rounds of appeals and negotiations led by Patiala SSP with the Dera Head Baba Balwinder Singh to surrender with their weapons and swords but the Nihangs refused to surrender. One Nihang, Nirbhav Singh, suffered an injury in the incident, was immediately rushed to Patiala Hospital,” said the spokesperson.
Giving details of the entire incident, DGP Gupta said the accused had set up morchas inside the Dera Complex and had placed LPG cylinders, along the Dera perimeter and were getting ready to set-off blasts to cause injuries to the police party, which was surrounded by the police party that chased them.
Despite repeated announcements from the public address system, they refused to surrender and, instead, abused the police and threatened them with serious consequences if they tried to come closer.
The police then persuaded the Sarpanch and some villagers to go in and persuade the men to come out but they failed. Soon thereafter, the police party heard loud shouts and noises from inside the gurdwara premises, suggesting that some innocent people and hostages within might have got caught in the trouble, according to the DGP.
A Patiala Police team led by IG Patiala and SSP Patiala, along with a team of the Special Operations Group (SOG), led by ADGP Rakesh Chandra, then moved into the premises, followed “to flush out the rogue band of nihang criminals”.
A few shots were fired by the accused at the police personnel before they were nabbed, said the DGP, adding that entire operation was handled delicately so that the maryada and sanctum sanctorum of the Gurdwara Sahib was not disturbed in any manner.
“The accused included the five persons involved in the brutal attack on the Punjab Police team posted at the vegetable market in Sanaur early on Sunday morning. They had crashed through a series of barricades and attacked the police personnel who inquired about their curfew passes, said the DGP Gupta, adding that Baba Balwinder Singh, the Nihang Head, was the main perpetrator of the attack on the police party at the Patiala Sabzi Mandi this morning. He came to the market with four other persons, in a Tata Xenon vehicle.
DGP said a huge cache of weapons as well as hand-held weapons, such as barchhe and kirpans, and some used cartridges were seized from the accused, in addition to two petrol bombs and LPG cylinders, five bags of poppy husk mixed with sulpha, other drugs in commercial quantity and Rs 39 lakhs in cash. Some bottles with chemical substances were also found inside the premises.
ASI Harjit Singh, whose hand was reportedly cut off with a sword during the attack at the vegetable mandi, has undergone a plastic surgery at PGI Chandigarh for suturing back his hand, where he was rushed after the incident, said the DGP.
Besides, Sadar Patiala SHO Inspector Bikkar Singh also suffered sharp weapon injuries on his left arm, leg and back, ASI Raj Singh was inflicted a sharp weapon injury on his left leg, and ASI Raghbir Singh had got blunt injuries on his body. In addition, a Mandi Board official AR Yadwinder Singh also suffered some minor injuries in this attack.