Curfew in Patiala after group clash, 4 hurt

Patiala: Local authorities announced an 11-hour curfew in Punjab’s Patiala district on Friday after four people were injured when two groups clashed over an “anti-Khalistan march”.

The curfew will be enforced between 7 pm Friday and 6 am Saturday, according to an order issued by Patiala district magistrate Sakshi Sawhney.

The measure is being taken for the maintenance of peace and law and order, it said.

However, all emergency and essential services shall remain exempted from the order, it added.

Tension prevailed in the city after the clash outside the Kali Mata temple between members of an outfit called Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray) on one side and a group of Sikh activists, including some Nihangs, on the others.

They shouted slogans and hurled stones at each. Four people, including a policeman, were hurt.