Punjab police on Wednesday cracked down on Sikh leaders who organised a congregation of Sikh groups on Tuesday, Times Now said. Shiromani Akal Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann and United Akali Dal president Mohkam Singh, organisers of the assembly held on Tuesday, were rounded up by Punjab police from their Amritsar homes early on Wednesday morning. Amritsar Commissioner of Police Jatinder Singh Aulakh said the duo was taken into preventive custody and told The Indian Express that they were to make an address at Akal Takht on Wednesday which was a “threat to law and order" and likely to lead to violence.

The assembly of around 18,000 Sikhs on Tuesday chose Jagtar Singh Hawara, convicted for killing former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, as the head priest of the Akal Takht, the most important seat of power in the Sikh religion. Hawara was appointed jathedar at what the groups called a Sarbat Khalsa, a grand assembly of Sikhs near Amritsar. Two others were removed as the head priests of Takht Kesgarh Sahib and Takht Damdama Sahib. The resolutions, spearheaded by radical groups, were seen as a direct affront to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, a mini-parliament of Sikhs that makes all the appointments to the takhts.

The congregation accused Sikh head priests of not upholding the dignity of the religion. They have been claiming that the SGPC is too close to the ruling Badal family in the state. Hawara’s appointment is likely to cause conflict between various Sikh groups in Punjab. He is currently serving a life sentence in Tihar jail. The SGPC and the Akal Takht, however, refused to term the meeting a Sarbat Khalsa, the Press Trust of India reported.