Kurukshetra (Haryana), Sep 13 - A faction of Sikh leaders took over a gurdwara in this Haryana town, which was controlled by Amritsar-based Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The faction leaders said they had taken over the shrine without using force and as per the law.

Gurdwara Chhati Pathshai here, around 110 km from the state capital Chandigarh, was occupied by members of Haryana's ad-hoc committee of SGPC.

The SGPC, a parliament of sorts of the Sikh religion, manages Sikh shrines of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, including the holiest Sikh shrine Harmandar Sahib (popularly known as Golden Temple) at Amritsar in Punjab.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had earlier said that a separate SGPC would be constituted on Haryana Day Nov 1, the day Haryana was carved out in 1966 as a separate state from Punjab, provided there are no legal hitches.

'They have taken law into their hands and broken the locks of the gurdwara doors to gain entry inside the premises. They are spreading mayhem in the state just like old Mughal rulers,' Raghuveer Singh Virk, senior vice-president of SGPC, told IANS Sunday.

He added: 'By doing so, they violated SGPC Act of 1925. A legitimate body that comes into power only after proper elections and controls all the gurdwaras. We are going to register a case of trespassing and dacoity against them with the police. We will make sure that they have to pay heavy price for this.