‘Hot-Headed, High on Bhang’: Meet Man Behind Patiala Cop Attack

Balwinder Singh, who stayed at the Khichdi Sahib gurudwara in Balbehra village in Patiala, attacked 3 cops.

(Photo: The Quint)

"I went with the police to get him and everyone else to surrender. I told him the situation is tense due to how coronavirus is spreading, so please come out. We will talk to the policemen and try and strike a compromise with them. But Balwinder Singh (the man who cut off the policeman's hand) kept saying that he will not come out as the police will arrest him."

Ranjeet Singh, sarpanch of Balbehra village, was not just a bystander to Punjab police's operation to capture 11 people who appeared to be nihangs in a gurudwara in Patiala.

Speaking to The Quint he tells us how he tried to mediate between the police and the party who had hid in the gurudwara after attacking three policemen, including cutting one of their hands off on 12 April. After this they came and hid at the Khichidi Sahib guruswara in Balbehra.

Once Ranjeet failed to bring Balwinder out and more members of the Punjab police arrived, they decided to use their commandos to successfully pull off an operation by arresting the 11 people, including a woman, who were found inside. They also recovered weapons and cash. "Rs 39 lakh in cash and weapons like kirpans and other arms were recovered,"  Patiala IG Jitender Singh Aulakh said.

Ranjeet said that the men had stepped out that morning from the Khichdi  Gurudwara to buy vegetables. "They had a programme organised in the gurudwara and for the langarh they had gone in the morning to go and get vegetables. It was then when the incident happened," Ranjeet said.

"They have lived here for at least 20 years and we have had regular fights with them. Balwinder used to drink a lot of bhang, bags of which were found inside the gurudwara as well. He also had a short-temper. On at least one or two occasions there has been tension over the land that was adjacent to the gurudwara. They wanted to grab it. The police also had to get involved over the land conflict and then eventually a compromise was struck in the village." Aulakh confirmed that Balwinder had at least two cases against him, "One is of theft, the second of attempt to murder," he said.

For the last few years, things were better as there were not as many conflicts. The gurudwara was not in the village but slightly removed, about a kilometre away on the highway. The sarpanch, Rajneet, who was there through the entire time says that the arms the police recovered did not work. "They were old and were not functioning."

While Aulakh has said that these men can be called hihangs, Rajneet says, "They were not nihangs. They were just wearing blue clothes which gave everyone the impression, but they were not nihang."