Twenty-six people were taken into preventive custody today during a protest demanding release of Sikh detainees lodged in various jails of the country who they claim have completed their sentences.
Police said that one those arrested was daughter 80-year-old Sikh activist Surat Singh Khalsa.
Police said that Khalsa's daughter Sarwinder Kaur along with 25 others were taken into custody by the police at Hassanpur village for apprehending breach of peace because they were proceeding towards Ludhiana-Ferozepur road to stop the buses plying on the road to press for the demand raised by Khalsa.
Protesters threatened to stop the buses of the company owned by the ruling Badals to press for their demand, they said.
SP (headquarters), Ludhiana (Rural), Bahadur Singh said the protesters were produced before a court and were released in the evening.
Notably, Khalsa had been sitting on fast unto death here until a few days back before he was shifted to a hospital here by the police owing to his deteriorating health condition.
Over a week back, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had constituted a high-level committee to ensure timely resolution of pending matters related to Sikh prisoners within the ambit of existing rules and regulations.
The committee has been mandated to examine such specific cases meticulously so as to ensure timely release of these prisoners lodged in different jails of Punjab and outside the state.
A decision to this effect had been taken by Badal at Chandigarh on May 28 during the meeting with the representatives of the some Sikh organisations to review the then situation arising out of fast unto death by Surat Singh Khalsa.
Meanwhile, a supporter of Khalsa today climbed atop a water tank at village Hussainpur on the outskirts of Ludhiana city and threatened to commit suicide if the ageing Sikh activist was not immediately released from the hospital. He also demanded that Khalsa's demands should be immediately met.
Identified as Amritpal Singh of Barnala district and now serving in a Gurudwara as a priest in district Bathinda, he climbed the village water tank since morning tying himself with a loose cloth round his neck and its other end being tied to a hook of the tank, police said.
