chief Gurbachan Singh with his sword but was shot dead by Gurbachan's bodyguard, while Bhindranwale escaped. In the ensuing violence, several people were killed: two of Bhindranwale's followers, eleven members of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and three Nirankaris. This event brought Bhindranwale to limelight in the media. A criminal case was filed against sixty-two Nirankaris by the Akali-led government in Punjab. The case was heard in the neighbouring Haryana state, and all the accused were acquitted. The Punjab government Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal decided not to appeal the decision. The case of Nirankaris received widespread support in the media. Bhindranwale increased his rhetoric against the enemies of Sikhs. A letter of authority was issued by Akal Takht to ostracise the Sant Nirankaris. A sentiment was created to justify extrajudicial killings of the perceived enemies of Sikhism. The chief proponents of this attitude were Babbar Khalsa founded by Talwinder Singh Babbar and followers of the widow, Bibi Amarjit Kaur of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, whose husband Fauja Singh had been at the head of the march in Amritsar; the Damdami Taksal led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who had also been in Amritsar on the day of the outrage; the Dal Khalsa, formed with the object of demanding a sovereign Sikh state; and the All India Sikh Students Federation, which was banned by the government. Babbar Khalsa started targeting people who sympathised with the Nirankaris. In the subsequent years following this event, several murders took place in Punjab and the surrounding areas allegedly by Bhindranwale's group and the new Babbar Khalsa. The Babbar Khalsa activists took up residence in the Golden Temple, where they would retreat to, after committing "acts of punishment" on people against the orthodox Sikh tenets. Police did not enter the temple complex to avoid hurting the sentiments of Sikhs. On 24 April 1980, the Nirankari head, Gurbachan was murdered. A member of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, Ranjit Singh, surrendered and admitted to the assassination three years later, and was sentenced to serve thirteen years at the Tihar Jail in Delhi. According to C. Christine Fair, Babbar Khalsa was opposed to Bhindranwale and more concerned with propagating sectarian violence and enforcing Sikh personal law than supporting Khalistan movement. Financing The group receives funds and support from its supporters within the Sikh community, that are largely located in Europe and North America. Historically, to get the financial and material