NEW DELHI: A police officer’s hand was chopped off with a sword in a brutal attack on Sunday by a group of Nihang Sikhs in Punjab on a team enforcing the 21-day coronavirus lockdown.

The attack shortly after dawn in which three other men of the state police and a civilian were also injured happened when the Nihangs were asked to show curfew passes at a vegetable market in Sanaur town in Patiala district, police said.

Eleven persons including five attackers were arrested hours later after an exchange of fire at Nihang Dera complex which also houses Gurdwara Khichdi Sahib at Balbera village, about 25 km from Patiala city, after the group fled from the scene of crime, police said. The incident happened around 6.15 am.

A video clip on social media appears to show Assistant Sub Inspector(ASI) Harjeet Singh seeking help after his left hand was severed in the attack. A man picks up the portion of the hand that was ripped off and gives it to the officer who keeps it with him. He is then taken away from the scene on a two-wheeler.

The ASI was rushed to a nearby local hospital and then referred to PGIMER in Chandigarh where he underwent a surgery, police said.

With a lockdown in place to contain the spread of COVID-19, barricades were put up outside the wholesale market and entry restricted to those with curfew passes.

The Nihangs -- members of a Sikh sect whose adherents carry traditional arms and wear blue robes -- arrived in an SUV and were told to stop by ‘mandi’ officials, police said

"They were asked to show passes. But they rammed the vehicle against the gate and the barricades," said Patiala’s Senior Superintendent of Police Mandeep Singh Sidhu.

The group then attacked the police personnel and fled to the Gurdwara managed by them.