PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Jyotirmath
The four Nihang Sikhs arrested by the police after their violent clash with locals at Karnprayag in Chamoli district on June 16 were granted bail by the court of the district and sessions judge Bindhyachal Singh on Saturday. The Karnprayag incident which saw a verbal argument spiral into violence with the Nihangs attacking the locals with swords left four injured including one of the accused visitors. While three of the four arrested Nihangs were sent to Pursadi jail, the injured accused is undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Rishikesh. While Manpreet Singh is undergoing treatment, Jaspreet Singh, Ajay Singh and Satvinder Singh were sent to the district jail in Chamoli.
The accused Nihangs securing bail from court is also expected to resolve the issue resulting from the group of Nihangs from Punjab and other States issuing a 48-hour ultimatum to the State government to meet their demands in support of the accused, failing which they had threatened to rally to Karnprayag.
The altercation between the Nihangs and locals in Karnprayag had elicited strong reactions from people across the State and from some members of the Sikh community in Punjab and other places. A group of Nihangs had also attempted to rally to Karnprayag on Thursday in support of their demands including the release of the four accused. Most of them had agreed to defer their plan after talk with officials at Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh though a group had managed to enter the Race Course Gurudwara in Dehradun. They returned to Paonta Sahib after talks with local officials. However, the group had threatened to rally to Karnprayag if their demands were not met. On the other hand, the local residents also strongly objected to blatant violation of traffic rules and violence as witnessed in the Karnprayag incident, which was followed by a three-day standoff between a group of Nihangs and the management of the Nagrasu Gurudwara which began on June 20.
Meanwhile, with the four accused securing bail, proceedings in the Karnprayag case are slated to continue in the court. According to the police, an impartial investigation is being carried out in the case. Legal action will be taken on the basis of the facts revealed in the investigation, officials said.
