Uneasy calm at Golden Temple complex after violent clash

The rush of devotees increased towards the evening, signalling normalcy.

Shops in the vicinity of the shrine remained closed Friday following a bandh call given by radical Sikh organisation Dal Khalsa. The police detained several activists for forcing the closure of shops.

"The area around the Golden Temple complex had a curfew-like look. The situation looked tense," a local media person who witnessed the clash said.

"The incident at the shrine is unfortunate. The Dal Khalsa had nothing to do with it," Dal Khalsa leader Kanwarpal Singh said.

Heavily armed terrorists, led by separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, were flushed out of the Golden Temple complex by the Indian Army in Operation Bluestar in June 1984. The then prime minister Indira Gandhi had ordered the army operation.

Punjab witnessed a bloody phase of terrorism between 1981 and 1992 as separatists demanded a Sikh homeland -- Khalistan (land of the pure). The terrorism phase left over 25,000 people dead, including hundreds of security personnel.