AMRITSAR, March 11 -- After nihang outfits threatened to disrupt the ceremony and Sikh organisations decided to boycott it, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) installed Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, 40, as the jathedar of Takht Kesgarh Sahib in Anandpur Sahib in the presence of the 'Panj Pyare (five beloved ones of the Guru)' of the Akal Takht at 2.45am, seven hours before schedule, on Monday.

In the afternoon, he also took additional charge as acting jathedar of Akal Takht in Amritsar, the highest Sikh temporal seat, without any ceremony, for the first time in history, amid the row over the removal of previous jathedars by the SGPC.

At Takht Kesgarh Sahib, the coronation ceremony was to be held at 10am on Monday and invit...