during operation blue star, the indian army action in 1984 to clear up the golden temple complex from militants. the army operation that happened between 4–6 june 1984. several akali dal leaders were stuck in the temple complex during the operation. inside, were longowal, sgpc head gurcharan singh tohra, jarnail singh bhindranwala and thousands of pilgrims. bhindranwala and most of his followers in the temple were killed in the operation. longowal was among the sikh leaders who were rescued by army from within the golden temple. they could only be evacuated in an armoured personnel carrier (apc) due to fear of firing from the sikh extremists. later on, longowal was put under detention.