On Sunday, an Indian police officer's hand was chopped off with a sword while he was trying to enforce lockdown measures implemented due to the novel coronavirus.

The hand of Harjit Singh, an assistant sub inspector for the Punjab police, was chopped off while he patrolled outside a vegetable market in Patiala, a city in northwestern India. While patrolling the area, a truck carrying seven men, who belong to the Sikh minority warrior sect known as the Nihangs, were stopped at a barricade.

When the men in the truck were asked for valid travel passes, one of them pulled out a sword and chopped Singh's hand off.

According to TheHindu.com, the main perpetrator of the attack was a man named Baba Balwinder Singh, one of the leaders of the Nihang group.

Prior to his arrest, Balwinder Singh and the police were locked in a "stand-off for several hours," Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta said according to TheHindu.com

"The accused included five persons involved in the attack on the police team posted at the vegetable market in Sanaur early on Sunday morning. They had crashed through a series of barricades and attacked the police personnel who inquired about their curfew passes," Gupta added.

The group of men traveling in the truck were arrested shortly after and several police officers, including Singh, were transported to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh. According to CNN, the police apprehended seven men and took them into custody, and an investigation is currently underway.

Singh underwent several hours of surgery, with doctors reattaching his severed hand to his left wrist.

"I am happy to share that a 7 ½ 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," wrote the Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh in a tweet.

The incident occurred during India's nationwide lockdown, which is expected to end on April 14. The lockdown was implemented as a way to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes the respiratory disease COVID-19.

According to a tracker provided by Johns Hopkins University, there are currently over 9,200 confirmed coronavirus cases in India, and at least 331 deaths.

Across the globe, the virus has continued to spread, infecting over 1.8 million people and causing over 115,000 deaths.

Newsweek