Doctors at the Chandigarh's PGIMER successfully reattached an ASI's hand which was chopped off by a group of Nihangs in Punjab's Patiala, officials said. Assistant Sub-Inspector Harjeet Singh's hand was cut with a sword while three other Punjab policemen and a mandi official sustained injuries when the Nihangs attacked them after being asked to show curfew passes at a vegetable market in Patiala district.
Eleven people, including five attackers, were arrested hours later after an exchange of fire at Nihang Dera complex which also houses Gurdwara Khichdi Sahib at Balbera village, about 25 km from Patiala city, after the group fled from the scene of crime, police said. A video clip on social media appeared to show ASI Harjeet Singh seeking help after his left hand was severed in the attack. A man picked up the portion of the hand that was ripped off and gave it to the officer who kept it with him. He was then taken away from the scene on a two-wheeler.
The ASI was rushed to a nearby local hospital and then referred to PGIMER in Chandigarh. With a lockdown in place to contain the spread of COVID-19, barricades were put up outside the wholesale market and entry restricted to those with curfew passes.
The Nihangs - members of a Sikh sect whose adherents carry traditional arms and wear blue robes - arrived in an SUV and were told to stop by mandi officials, police said. "They were asked to show passes. But they rammed the vehicle against the gate and the barricades," said Patiala's Senior Superintendent of Police Mandeep Singh Sidhu. The group then attacked the police personnel and fled to the Gurdwara managed by them.
The11accused, including a woman, were arrested after the joint team of police and the special operations group braved gunshots fired from inside the complex to enter the dera, which includes the Khichri Sahib Gurdwara. A large cache of weapons and an unspecified quantity of drugs were seized from the complex. DGP Dinkar Gupta said dera head Baba Balwinder Singh, the main accused, and his followers had refused to surrender despite repeated appeals from the police team. The police had st storm the complex and arrest the accused.
