Tension erupted between two groups here today, but timely intervention by police saved the situation from taking an ugly turn.
Balbir Singh Bittu along with his supporters had a heated argument with local Dalit residents at a rest house here, according to police.
The members of Dalit community accused Bittu of murdering two activists of the community, police said.
Dalits led by Jarnail Nangal, General Secretary, Punjab BSP, alleged that while the person responsible (Bittu) for both murders was roaming free, police had falsely framed a Dalit activist Nathpal Dhilwan in the case.
To pacify the situation, police took Balbir into custody, sources said. Balbir has a case registered against him at Jalandhar. He was later handed over to Jalandhar police.
Police sources said that Bittu, who is from nearby Dhilwan village, was to appear before a two member claim commission that was here to entertain compensation claims of those whose properties were damaged in violence following the May 2009 Vienna incident in which Sant Rama Nand of Ballan was murdered in Vienna by by terrorists.
