Chandigarh: Sikh radical groups today gave an ultimatum for the arrest of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh by Tuesday as protests against the killing of a community member in Mumbai continued in Punjab and Haryana.

Damdami Taksal and Sant Samaj said if the Centre and Maharashtra government failed to arrest the Dera chief by June 24, protesters would blockade rail tracks and also demanded that the Z plus security cover to him be withdrawn.

The Sirsa-based Dera, meanwhile, claimed the Mumbai incident where a 40-year-old Sikh was reportedly killed in firing by a bodyguard, was an "inadvertent hyper-reaction" and the protests that followed were "politically orchestrated".

Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhuma told PTI from Mumbai, "if the Dera chief is not arrested by June 24, Sikhs will stop trains at various places the next day."

Protests continued in Punjab and Haryana with Sikhs carrying out processions and demonstrations at Sirsa, Moga and blockding rail traffic in Sangrur.

Dera's chief spokesman Aditya Insaan claimed that the Dera chief was inside his vehicle surrounded by Mumbai police security and someone tried to ram a vehicle into his car.

"Whatever has happened is an inadvertent hyper reaction ... Who did it and why will come out in the investigations," he said referring to the firing incident on Friday.

He also accused the Shiromani Akali Dal headed government in Punjab of "sponsoring terrorists".

Source : PTI