1984 riots: Cops detain Sikh leaders

Police on Wednesday detained some Sikh leaders in Amritsar, who were squatting on rail lines, as part of the Punjab bandh call given by some Sikh groups including Khalsa Action Committee (KAC), the Dal Khalsa against the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh and KAC Chairman Bhai Mokham Singh were among those taken into preventive custody by the Amritsar police on Wednesday morning.

Kanwar Pal Singh claimed that they were peacefully squatting on the rail lines near the Amritsar railway station when the police "forcefully had us removed from there".

While, police claimed that they tried to stop the Amritsar-Delhi Swarn Shatabdi.

Kanwar claimed that the police had made around 300 preventive arrests throughout the state to foil their bandh.

He also claimed that those shopkeepers and other commercial establishments, which voluntarily wanted to join the bandh were also forced to open their shops by the police at various places in the state.

The police, however, denied the allegation.

The bandh call was given by the Dal Khalsa and others, who described the 1984 incident as "genocide of Sikhs".

Last year on November 3, various Sikhs groups had given a call to protest alleged inaction against the 1984 riots accused.

Meanwhile, the bandh has evoked partial response in Jalandhar with the rail and road traffic plying normal in the area.

The banks, commercial establishments and schools were closed in the wake of the bandh call. There was, however, no report of any violence from the region. Security has been beefed up, police said.