NEW DELHI, India -- Fifty people were injured Monday in battles with police as 6,000 Nirankari mourners carried the flower-draped body of their slain leader through New Delhi.
The procession was called to demand that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi stop the 'killing of innocent persons' in the northwest state of Punjab.
Nirankaris are a tiny minority sect that broke away from the Sikh religion, and are considered heretics by most Sikhs.
Sikh extremists are suspected of the Saturday assassination of Kulwant Singh, a local Nirankari leader from the Mission of Faridkot, 210 miles northwest of New Delhi.
Singh's body, wrapped in a white sheet and draped with marigolds, was carried atop a truck. Shops along the route briefly closed for fear of violence.
About 50 people, including 40 Nirankaris and 10 policemen, were injured when police armed with canes clashed with the marchers, many of whom threw stones.
The Nirankaris gave Mrs. Gandhi's office a petition with their grievances and said several Nirankari representives would later meet her.
'There is the law of the jungle in Punjab,' said delegation member K.R. Chandha. 'We want to ask her what will happen to the Nirankaris.'
Chadha, vice president of the group leading the protest, said 36 Nirankaris were killed in the past three years, including 20 in 1983 alone.
