Following threats from Gopal Singh Chawla, a pro-Khalistan leader, Ludhiana police on Saturday restricted Hindu leaders Amit Arora, Yogesh Bakhshi and national joint coordinator of All India Congress Committee (Kisan Congress) Gursimran Singh Mand from stepping out from their houses. The police have also increased vigil outside the residences of various Hindu leaders.

In a video, Chawla has threatened to kill Arora and Mand. The video was released after the murder of Hindu leader Sudhir Suri. Arora said he had also received threats from Hardeep Singh Nijjar of the banned terror outfit Sikhs For Justice (SFJ).

Arora tried to leave for Amritsar on Saturday to attend the cremation of Suri, but the joint commissioner of police (rural) Ravcharan Singh Brar, along with cops advised him against stepping outside due to security reasons.

Arora is already on terrorist groups’ target and had survived an attack in 2016. On February 3, 2016, a shot was fired at him near Samrala Chowk.

Mand was also stopped from leaving for Amritsar. Police commissioner Kaustubh Sharma said, “Due to security reasons, some of the leaders were advised to stay at home.” The police chief said that two more Hindu leaders – Mukesh Khurana of Akhil Bhartiya Sanatan Dharam Raksha Akhara and Sandeep Verma of Shiv Sena Punjab – have been provided with a security cover. They are associates of Arora.

Earlier, on November 4, 2022, Hindu leader Sudhir Suri was shot dead in Amritsar when he was taking part in a protest outside a temple. Suri was raising his voice against Khalistani extremists as well. He was on the hit list of Khalistani terror outfits since 2016 and thus provided police security.