Dozens of activists of several Sikh outfits today left for Chandigarh in a procession to show solidarity with Gurbakash Singh, who has been on a fast for the past 21 days demanding release of five Sikhs from jails.
Police had, however, stopped the activists from leaving Amritsar for over three hours till senior Sikh leaders intervened and persuaded the administration to allow them to go ahead with their march.
As policemen tried to stop the activists of Dal Khalsha and other Sikh outfits from beginning the march when they came out of the Golden Temple after a meeting with Jathedar Akal Takhat Giani Gurbachan Singh, a commotion ensued.
In a bid to stop the march, police earlier took several Sikh hardliners, including Baba Baljit Sindh Daduwal and Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwarpal Singh, into custody. They were released after the procession left Amritsar.
Gurbakash is seeking the release of five Sikh prisoners — Lakhvinder Singh, Gurmit Singh, Shamsher Singh (all Burail jail), Lal Singh (Nabha jail) and Gurdeep Singh — who have been languishing in jails for decades even after serving life sentence handed over to them by various courts in various cases in the 1980s.