Protestors used Guru Granth Sahib as shield to attack police: Punjab DGP

TIL Desk/National/Amritsar/ A day after supporters of preacher and Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh stormed a police station, Punjab director general of police Gaurav Yadav on Friday said the demonstrators had used the holy Guru Granth Sahib as a shield and attacked police personnel in a ‘cowardly’ manner, leaving six of them injured. Despite giving an assurance of a peaceful demonstration, the protesters used sharp-edged weapons, the police said.

“The demonstration was permitted when under the cover of Palki Sahib of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji, police were attacked in a cowardly manner with sharp-edged weapons, stones and bricks,” Yadav said, adding that six security personnel were injured in the incident. “The police acted with utmost restraint due to the maryada (respect) of Guru Granth Sahib and preserved it. Had the police opened fire, it would have led to more issues.

We acted with restraint on account of the presence of the holy Guru Granth Sahib,” he said. On Thursday, Amritpal Singh’s supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke though barricades and barged into a police station in Ajnala on the outskirts of the Amritsar city, extracting an assurance from the police that kidnapping case accused Lovepreet Singh would be released.