35-year-old man lynched, hand chopped at Singhu

Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal addresses the media after the incident, at Singhu border, in New Delhi, on Friday. Pic/PTI

A man was lynched, his hand chopped off and the body bearing over 10 wounds caused by sharp-edged weapons tied to a barricade at a farmers' protest site at Kundli near the Delhi-Haryana border, a gruesome incident being blamed on a group of Nihangs.

Hours later, a man wearing the blue robes of the Sikhs' Nihang order, appeared before the media, claiming that he had "punished" the victim for "desecrating" a holy book. Other Nihangs said he had "surrendered" to police. Police later said they have detained one person.

Sandeep Khirwar, ADGP Rohtak. Pic/ANI

Haryana police said they have detained one person from Kundli in Sonipat. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions spearheading the protests at Delhi's borders against three agriculture laws, said a group of Nihangs has claimed responsibility. The deceased allegedly attempted to desecrate the Sarbloh Granth, a holy book of the Sikhs, it added.

Senior farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar told PTI that the group of Nihangs, which allegedly killed the man, was not part of the SKM's protests and strict action should be taken against the culprits. He claimed that the victim was staying with the same group of Nihangs for some time.

The deceased, Lakhbir Singh, was a labourer from Cheema Khurd village in Punjab's Tarn Taran and was aged around 35 years, police said, adding that the body was found tied to an overturned police barricade near a stage put up by the farmers protesting at the site for over 10 months. A Sonipat police officer said Singh's body was found at 5 am, in a pair of shorts.

The video clip shows the Nihangs asking the man where had he come from. Singh is heard saying something in Punjabi and pleading before the Nihangs. His body bears wounds. The clip shows the Nihangs repeatedly asking him who had sent him for committing sacrilege. One of them says the man is a "Punjabi" and not an outsider, and it should not be made into a Hindu-Sikh issue. Another raises a religious chant. The Nihangs are a warrior Sikh order, distinguished by their blue robes and often seen carrying spears.

A security person keeps vigil at Singhu border near the site of farmers' protest, in Delhi, on Friday. Pic/PTI

"No one has right to play with religious sentiments while killing someone is also not the right thing. The guilty person should have been been handed over to police," said a farm protester Ravinder Singh.

"The leaders of SKM had earlier appealed the Nihangs that they had nothing to do with farmers protest and they should leave because it was not a religious agitation," Yogendra Yadav said, condemning the incident.