Punjab on high alert after radicals’ shutdown call Monday

CHANDIGARH/LUDHIANA - With radical Sikh organisations calling for a state wide shutdown Monday to protest against Saturday’s violence in Ludhiana, the Punjab Police and administration in all districts of the state was Sunday put on high alert.

Radical Sikh organisations led by Damdami Taksal, Sant Samaj and others have called for a Punjab ‘bandh’ (shutdown) Monday.

This follows violent incidents in Ludhiana Friday and Saturday which left one person dead and several injured.

The Sikh organisations had clashed with the police Saturday while they tried to disrupt a religious conference of controversial sect leader Ashutosh Maharaj of the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan.

A Punjab bandh called by radical Sikh bodies last month to protest the central government’s inaction in punishing those behind the 1984 anti-Sikh riots had also been successful with normal life being severely affected by the protest.

Security forces have been posted at sensitive points across the state and some points along roads, highways and railway tracks.