Patiala: Punjab Police officer, whose hand was chopped off by a group Nihangs  (a Sikh sect) in Patiala, has been reimplanted successfully after a long and complex surgery on Sunday.

Assistant Sub Inspector Harjeet Singh’s seven-and-a-half hour surgery at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh was completed successfully, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh informed on Twitter.

“I am happy to share that a 7 1/2 hour long surgery has been successfully completed in PGI to repair the severed wrist of ASI Harjeet Singh. I thank the entire team of doctors and support staff for their painstaking effort. Wishing ASI Harjeet Singh a speedy recovery,” the Punjab CM tweeted.

ASI Harjeet Singh was injured along with two other Punjab policemen on Sunday morning when a group of Nihang Sikhs attacked them after being asked to show curfew passes at a vegetable market in Patiala.

Seven people, including five attackers, were arrested hours later after an exchange of fire at a gurdwara where the group members hid after attacking the policemen.