Satkar committee men, DJJS followers clash
BATALA : Tension gripped Peroshan village in Ghuman town after followers of Nurmahal-based sect Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (DJJS) and members of Guru Granth Sahib Satkar committee clashed, on Saturday late evening, over an anti-drug campaign that the DJJS members wanted to carry out going door-to-door in the area. During the clash which turned bloody within minutes, more than 10 DJJS followers were injured, police said. Most were in a critical condition and were referred to Amritsar hospitals from the Batala civil hospital.
BATALA: Tension gripped Peroshan village in Ghuman town after followers of Nurmahal-based sect Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (DJJS) and members of Guru Granth Sahib Satkar committee clashed, on Saturday late evening, over an anti-drug campaign that the DJJS members wanted to carry out going door-to-door in the area.
Satkar committee is a body of Sikh activists that bond together to ensure that the holy book of Sikhism is always respected.
During the clash which turned bloody within minutes, more than 10 DJJS followers were injured, police said.
Most were in a critical condition and were referred to Amritsar hospitals.
The Satkar committee members and DJJS have a previous history of clashing with each other over ‘disrespecting religion’. Police, who have booked the local Satkar committee president Balbir Singh Mushal and others for rioting and attempt to murder, say that the committee members were angry over the Sansthan followers’ decision to visit the homes of addicts claiming their privacy would be intruded.
“Some members of the Satkar Committee that Mushal was leading reached the spot where we (DJJS members) had gathered and opposed our drive. Within minutes, the verbal spat
COMMITTEE PRESIDENT AMONG OVER TWO DOZEN BOOKED FOR RIOTING AND FOR ATTEMPT TO MURDER
turned ugly and the satkar committee members attacked us with sharp-edged weapons,” DJJS member Jagbir Singh claimed. He alleged that when and his colleagues went to the Ghuman police station to lodge a complaint, they were allegedly again attacked with swords and other sharp-edged weapons.
“We had to flee to save our lives,” he claimed. The injured are Jagjit Singh, of Bathinda; Akshay Batra, of Amritsar; Sandeep Kumar, of Tarn Taran; Buta Singh, of Borey and Sharanjeet Singh, of Jabowal.
Investigating officer sub-inspector Joginder Singh said, “We have booked Satkar committee member president Balbir Singh Mushal, Nishan Singh, Gurnam Singh, Satnam Singh, Gurjeet Singh and two dozen unidentified people on a complaint from Kulwinder Singh, of Nurmahal.”
The case has been registered under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon) and 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence) of the IPC. Mushal was not available for comment.