Punjab Police giving ‘gatka’ training to its personnel after Ajnala incident

Chandigarh: In the wake of the recent Ajnala incident, the Punjab Police has started providing traditional Sikh martial art training to its personnel for self-defence and tackling any untoward incident during protests and demonstrations.

Experts, including ‘Nihangs’ Sikhs, have been roped in to train the personnel in ‘Gatka’ to learn self-defence techniques, they said.

Nihangs are Sikhs armed with traditional weapons and wear blue robes.

The move comes in the backdrop of the recent incident in which self-styled Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and his supporters, carrying swords and guns, clashed with police at the police station at Ajnala in Amritsar for the release of one of his aide.

Six policemen, including a Superintendent of Police rank officer, were injured during the clash last week. In another incident on February 8, protesters seeking release of Sikh prisoners had clashed with Chandigarh police, injuring more than 30 personnel at the Chandigarh-Mohali border.

Protesters, including some ‘Nihangs’ carrying swords and sticks had even thrashed some policemen and damaged police vehicles.

Gatka, a sikh martial art, is a style of stick-fighting and is a technique of self-defence.

In the past two days, police in Muktsar and Jalandhar provided ‘gatka’ training to police personnel including their quick response team (QRT).

“We provided training of ‘gatka’ to police personnel,” said Manjit Kaur, Superintendent of Police (headquarters), Jalandhar Rural on Tuesday.

“Initially, we will provide training to QRTs. Thereafter, we will provide training to personnel of other police stations,” she said. This training will continue in the coming days, she further said.

Another police official said this training will help in developing skills on how to tackle anyone who is attacking with a sword or stick.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government on Tuesday shifted 18 police officers, including Amritsar Commissioner of Police, with

immediate effect, according to an official order.

The Amritsar Commissioner of Police was shifted days after self-styled Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and barged into the Ajnala police station on the outskirts of the Amritsar city, extracting an assurance from the police that kidnapping case accused Lovepreet Singh will be released.