Three Nihang Sikhs, accused of killing and mutilation of a labourer at a farmers’ protest site in Singhu, a Delhi border village, were on Sunday sent to police custody for six days by a court in Haryana’s Sonipat city, ANI reported.

The three men have been identified as Bhagwant Singh, Govind Singh and Narain Singh.

Sarvjit Singh, the fourth accused person, had been sent to police custody for a week on Saturday.

The body of the labourer, identified as Lakhbir Singh, had been found tied to a barricade on Friday. His hands and legs had been severed.

A group of Nihangs, an order of Sikh warriors, had claimed responsibility for the killing in a purported video.

Late on Friday, Sarvjit Singh surrendered to the police in connection with the killing. He was produced in a court on Saturday. The police had asked for 14-day custody of Sarvjit Singh, but the court granted a seven-day custody.

Punjab Police arrested Narain Singh from Amritsar’s Amarkot village on Saturday. Meanwhile, Bhagwant Singh and Govind Singh surrendered before the Haryana Police.

On Sunday, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said that the killing should not be linked to the farmers’ protest, ANI reported.

“They [the Nihangs] have said it is a religious matter,” Tikait told reporters. “We are talking to them... We are telling them that they are not needed here [at the protest site] as of now.”