As the Army took out a flag march in Amritsar, the Punjab Police also turned up in strength.
Two more persons have been arrested in the case of desecration of the Sikh holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. This was the case filed at Punjab's Faridkote, which was the epicentre of the statewide protests, the police said. Central forces were deployed in key cities of Punjab this afternoon in view of the statewide protests over the desecration.
Here are the latest developments:
Calling the case solved, a senior police officer said of the seven cases filed over the desecration of the scriptures, five have been cracked. Four people had been arrested earlier.
Central forces were stationed today at Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Tarn Taran. The army held a flag march in Amritsar.
The Congress and AAP leaders met the Punjab governor this morning and demanded the dismissal of the Parkash Singh Badal government and the imposition of President's Rule in the state.
"We will raise the issue in the Parliament about the law and order situation in Punjab... we also demand imposition of President's Rule," said AAP leader Bhagwant Mann.
Chief Minister Badal convened an emergency Cabinet meeting to counter the crisis -- considered the worst in his nine-year rule.
The Shiromani Akali Dal -- which rules the state with partner BJP -- and the Chief Minister say "outside agencies" have orchestrated these events to foment trouble in the state.
Certain forces are behind all this... some agencies are responsible for what is happening... they want to disturb the peace," Chief Minister Badal said.
The police had said the events were isolated. In one case, the perpetrator, who was arrested, was settling a score with a gurudwara management. In another case, the arrested man had said that he wanted to "spread panic", the police said.
On Monday, Sikh groups and radical outfits had blocked highways across the state, demanding action against those responsible for desecrating scriptures. The protesters have threatened to continue the blockade till October 25 for three hours every day.
The World cup Kabbadi tournament -- an annual event-- has been cancelled after teams from US, Canada and UK withdrew from the competition, citing trouble in the state. It was scheduled to be held between November 14 and 28.
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