DEMANDS MET , AKALIS CALL OFF THEIR DHARNAS
Sukhbir announces end to protest after arrest of five Cong workers in Ferozepur clash
CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday evening lifted its “indefinite” dharnas being held across the state in protest against the alleged attack by Congress activists on its workers at Mallanwala in Ferozepur district, after most of its demands were met.
FEROZEPUR/ASR/CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday evening lifted its “indefinite” dharnas being held across the state in protest against the alleged attack by Congress activists on its workers at Mallanwala in Ferozepur district, after most of its demands were met.
The protests were called off by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was leading the dharna at Harike, after he was informed about the arrest of five Congress workers allegedly involved in the attack and removal of section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code from FIRS registered against former SAD MLA Joginder Singh Jindu, district unit chief Avtar Singh Minna, and party leader Verdev Singh Mann besides 90 Akali workers.
A team of officials led by deputy inspector general (DIG), Ferozepur range, Rajinder Singh, which met Sukhbir at the dharna site around 5 pm, also told him that investigation of all the cases has been given to the police’s bureau of investigation in Chandigarh. The state election commission (SEC) had already ordered transfer of Zira deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and a station house officer (SHO) after they were accused by the opposition party of colluding with the Congress. “We have called off the protest as our demands have been addressed,” said the SAD leader in statement.
The road blockades, which caused inconvenience to thousands in different districts, were lifted immediately thereafter.
The Akalis, who upped the ante after some party candidates were prevented from filing their nomination papers for the December 17 civic polls at a number of places and the clash at Mallanwala, first held a protest outside the SSP’S office in Ferozepur on Thursday and then laid siege to Harike Bridge on National Highway 54 which connects Majha with Malwa. Sukhbir and several other Akali leaders spent the night at the protest site.
The SAD also blockaded on two other roads in the district, announcing that the protest would continue until all their demands were met. The situation escalated on Friday morning with the protesting Akalis blocking roads at Beas, Phillaur, Balongi, Sirhind, Sangrur, Sunam, Mansa, Ludhiana, Rampura Phul, Bhikhi and Pathankot, leading to traffic snarls. At several places, trucks and buses operating on long routes were stuck.
In Pathankot, 12 visitors from Karnataka missed their flight from Amritsar to Delhi as the protesters, who had blockaded the Pathankot-jammu national highway, did not allow them a passage. The stir also caused inconvenience to tourists and other commuters in Amritsar, leading to a dip in footfall at Golden Temple. Sukhbir, in his statement, apologised to the people for putting them to inconvenience.