Dehradun, June 28 -- A district and sessions court in Uttarakhand's Chamoli on Saturday granted bail to four Nihang Sikhs arrested in connection with the June 16 Karnaprayag clash, observing that the incident prima facie appeared to have arisen from a sudden altercation following a vehicle collision and that there was no previous enmity between the accused and the local residents. The court directed that each accused be released on furnishing a personal bond of Rs.50,000 along with two sureties of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court. It also instructed the court registry to immediately communicate the bail order to the Chamoli district jail through email to facilitate their release after completion of the required formalities. On June 16, a clash broke out between Nihang Sikhs returning from Hemkunt Sahib and local residents following an altercation after a vehicle collision. Five people, including a Sikh pilgrim, were injured. The following day, police arrested four Nihang Sikhs after registering an FIR on the complaint of a local resident. A counter FIR was later lodged on June 20 against unidentified locals on the complaint of the father of an injured Sikh pilgrim, alleging that his son and others were assaulted during the incident. The arrests triggered a four-day standoff at the Nagrasu gurdwara in Rudraprayag, although the authorities denied any connection between the two incidents. The gurdwara management committee, however, claimed that those camping at the shrine were seeking the release of the four arrested men. The issue resurfaced on June 25 when a large group of Nihang Sikhs from Punjab's Mohali attempted to enter Uttarakhand seeking the release of the four accused. While only a small group managed to breach police barricades at the Kulhal barrier on the Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh border and enter Dehradun, the standoff ended the following morning after senior officials persuaded them to return to Paonta Sahib. The Nihang Sikhs maintained that they would not return to Punjab until the four men were released. District and Sessions Judge Bindhyachal Singh allowed separate bail applications filed by Satvinder Singh (21), Ajay Singh (23), Jaspreet Singh (23) and Manpreet Singh (21), all residents of Punjab, in connection with the FIR registered against them at Karnaprayag police station. The accused were booked under Sections 110, 125, 281, 351(2), 351(3) and 352 of BNS, along with Sections 4 and 25 of the Arms Act. During the hearing, counsel for the accused, Mohan Prasad Pant, argued that the four had been falsely implicated and were themselves victims of the incident. He submitted that they had travelled to Uttarakhand on a religious pilgrimage and were allegedly assaulted by nearly 100 local residents armed with sticks and rods. Pant told the court that Manpreet Singh suffered serious head and leg injuries in the incident and had to be referred to a higher medical centre. He also argued that the accused had no criminal antecedents and deserved bail. The prosecution opposed the bail plea, contending that the accused attacked local residents with swords with the intention of causing death and inflicted grievous injuries. It argued that the offences were serious, had triggered public outrage and that releasing the accused could lead to attempts to influence witnesses or hamper the investigation. After hearing both sides, the court observed that there was no material to suggest any prior hostility between the accused and the complainant party. Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Saturday stepped in to assuage agitating members of the Nihang sect who have threatened to march to Uttarakhand over the Karnaprayag clash, even as the four Nihangs arrested in the case were granted bail. After a Haryana Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee delegation met him, the CM spoke over phone to his Uttarakhand counterpart Pushkar Singh Dhami, urging a quick and peaceful resolution to the issue, Saini's political secretary, Tarun Bhandari, told the media....