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.

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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.

Similarly, the Muktsar police also arranged training for 'gatka' and brought over 13 experts to impart self-defense techniques to policemen, officials said.

Muktsar Deputy Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) Avtar Singh said around 300 personnel in police stations were given 'gatka' training.

"We will again provide training for 'gatka' in future," he further said.