A large group of the Nihang Sikh sect clashed with the police and pushed through security barricades at the Kulhal checkpoint in the Vikasnagar area on Thursday night in an attempt to go towards Hemkund Sahib in Uttarakhand. After hours of standoff, the group returned to Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh in the early hours of Friday following negotiations with authorities. The Nihangs joined others from their sect at Paonta Sahib Gurdwara, where discussions are still ongoing with senior officials of Uttarakhand Police and administration. The group called off their planned protest march in Uttarakhand related to a recent dispute at the Karnaprayag market in Chamoli and a gurdwara in Nagrasu. The arrest of the four Nihangs led to a standoff at the Nagrasu gurdwara in the Rudraprayag district, which ended after three days on June 23 following the intervention of a Sikh delegation. According to inkl.com, a group of Nihang Sikhs entered Uttarakhand through the Kulhal border in the Dehradun district on the night of June 25, demanding the release of the arrested men. Officials managed to persuade the group to return to Paonta Sahib. The group, which had gathered at the Race Course Gurdwara in Dehradun, left the premises around 3:30 a.m. in two vehicles under police escort for their safe passage across the state border. Police deployed heavily in advance of a Nihang protest. According to the Hindu, the protesters declared they would not return to Punjab until the four Nihang members arrested in connection with the Karnaprayag incident were released. According to inkl.com, the four Nihang Sikhs arrested in connection with the recent clash in Karnaprayag in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district are likely to approach the court for bail in the coming days. If the court grants them bail, the administration may allow them to return to their home state of Punjab.