Hours after Sikh high priests gave the Centre and Punjab government a three-day ultimatum to arrest the Dera Sacha Sauda chief for hurting their sentiments by posing as Guru Gobind Singh, one person was killed when a shot was fired at Sikhs who had gheraoed a Dera at Sunam — the first death since protests and clashes began three days ago.

Activists of the Dal Khalsa and Damdami Taksal attacked Dera branches at Maur and Mastgarh near Bathinda.

The person killed at Sunam was identified as Kamaljit Singh of Sangrur. He was shot, apparently while trying to scale the Dera wall. Police resorted to lathi-charge and fired in the air to disperse the crowd.

Earlier, amid uproarious scenes at an assembly called at Talwandi Sabo, radical Sikhs forced the high priests to change a ‘hukamnama’ and gave the Centre and Punjab government three days to arrest the Dera chief for his “act of blasphemy”.

The high priests called for a social, religious and political boycott of the Dera and its followers and sealing of Dera branches across Punjab.

At Talwandi Sabo, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh’s announcement that the Centre and Punjab government had ten days to arrest Dera chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh angered members of the Damdami Taksal and Dal Khalsa who began raising slogans, saying the verdict of the high priests was “too soft”.

With tempers rising, the Jathedars agreed to advance the arrest ultimatum limit to three days. “Keeping in view the general mood and opinion emerging, we have set a new deadline of May 20 to arrest the Dera head. If not, Sikhs will gather at the Akal Takht on that date and decide their own course of action,” said Damdama Sahib Jathedar Giani Balwant Singh Nandgarh. Sikh radicals had earlier demanded that they be given orders to march on the Dera headquarters at Sirsa in Haryana.