More than 150 Nihangs are camping at Paonta Sahib gurdwara in Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, awaiting the release of four members of their sect who were arrested in Uttarakhand after a clash with locals.
The Nihang groups held discussions to chalk out the future course of action and declared they would not return to Punjab until the four arrested members are released, sources said on Saturday.
A Nihang jatha on Thursday tried to force entry into Uttarakhand through Dehradun, which is only a few kilometres away. They also clashed with police who were present in heavy numbers to prevent their entry.
The standoff between Nihangs and the Dehradun administration at the Himachal-Uttarakhand border ended on Friday after the Nihangs postponed their march to Uttarakhand for two days.
Jagdeep Singh Akali, who is leading the Nihang jatha, told the media on Friday that the Uttarakhand administration sought two days to "fulfil their demands", so the plan for a protest march in Uttarakhand has been suspended for the next two days.
However, he warned that they would resume their agitation if the arrested Nihangs were not released.
