JOIN USTension prevailed in Gurdwara Bala Sahib in south Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan following a clash between two groups on Friday. A dispute over alleged allotment of the Gurdwara’s land to a private organisation to build a hospital was the reason, police said.
Several policemen were deployed in the area to prevent escalation of the situation between two sword-brandishing groups.
While four persons were injured in the clash, two four-wheelers were damaged. At least 200 people from both sides pelted stones.
Police had to fire tear gas shells to disperse the mob. They mounted a baton charge to clear the crowd.
According to police, trouble started at 11 am when Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Paramjit Singh Sarna’s brother Harvinder Singh Sarna was allegedly assaulted by two relatives of a local Sikh political leader and their supporters.
Police said some residents beat up Harvinder Singh Sarna, alleging that the land owned by DSGMC was being given to a private company to build a hospital.
The residents also tried to prevent a bhoomi pujan from being performed on the land by the committee’s vice chairman, Harvinder Singh Sarna.
Kuldeep Singh Bhogal, a resident, alleged that the chairman of the committee sold the land to private B L Kapoor Group to build the hospital.
Paramjit Singh Sarna told police that the allegations were false.
“We did not sell the land to B L Kapoor. The dispensary that we are running on this land was running into losses and we asked the private firm for suggestions to improve the situation,” Sarna told Deccan Herald.
Sarna also said no bhoomi pujan was performed.
A senior police officer attributed the clash to an old dispute between the local leader and the DSGMC.
“We have registered a case of rioting and we are talking to both groups to settle their differences,” the officer said.