Nihangs attack cops in Punjab, 11 held

Patiala: Eleven persons were on Sunday arrested in connection with the horrendous attack on a police party at the vegetable market in Patiala in the morning, in which an ASI's hand was cut off by a group of Nihangs.

The accused included five persons involved in the brutal attack on the Punjab police team posted at the vegetable market in Sanaur on Sunday morning.

They had crashed through a series of barricades and attacked the police personnel who inquired about their curfew passes, said DGP Dinkar 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. The accused, including a woman, were nabbed after the Patiala Police Party led by Jatinder Aulakh IG Patiala Range and Mandeep Sidhu, SSP Patiala, were fired upon from inside the Nihang Dera Complex which also houses Khichdi Sahib Gurdwara.

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.