Devotees have tough time paying obesiance at Golden Temple

Amritsar, Mar 23 (UNI) A large number of devotees had a tough time paying obesiance at the Golden Temple due to the security arrangements made for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the city to flag off the Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service tomorrow.

Police had virtually laid siege to the Golden Temple where the PM will pay obesiance tomorrow morning and listen to 'kirtan' at the Harmandir Sahib, the sanctum sanctorum.

Policemen in uniform are stationed in strength outside the shrine and inside they are in civil clothes. A strict watch is being kept on all devotees coming to pay obesiance.

A number of barricades have been set up around the shrine and vehicles are not being allowed to proceed beyond the 300 metre periphery around the shrine.A large number of devotees coming from outside the state were made to move on foot to the shrine after parking their vehicles at spots identified by the police.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandik Committee (SGPC) has protested at this attitude of the police.The Golden Temple manager Roop Singh had a tiff with the cops after they stopped vehicles owned by the SGPC.It was only at the intervention of senior police officers that the vehicles were allowed to proceed to the shrine.

UNI XC-HS VD KN1840