NH1 blocked in Karnal, 500 booked
Protesters were seeking release of Gharaunda ZP member Deepak Tyagi who was nabbed in connection with attack on raiding party of power dept in Barsat village
KARNAL: The Karnal police have booked about 500 people after agitated villagers blocked the national highway-1 and attacked a police station in Gharaunda town of the district on Friday night, while protesting against the arrest of a zila parishad member.
The protesters were demanding release of Gharaunda zila parishad member Deepak Tyagi, who was arrested by the police on Friday for his alleged involvement in a recent attack on a raiding party of the power department in Barsat village.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Karnal superintendent of police (SP) Jashandeep Randhawa said, “On Friday night, some anti-social elements had blocked the national highway-1 and also tried to torch the Gharaunda police station to protest the arrest of Deepak Tayagi, a zila parishad member.”
“The police have booked around 500 people under Section 307 of the IPC and the National Highway Act,” he said.
The SP added that investigation was on to identify the accused and they will be arrested soon. However, not even a single person has been booked by name.
Thousands of commuters were stranded on the NH-1 late on Friday night as the protesting villagers blocked highway and also hurled stones at a local police station demanding release of Deepak Tyagi.
The police used mild force and fired in air to disperse the protesters. After a high drama for over three hours, the villagers lifted the blockade following an assurance by the Karnal SP to ensure justice in the matter.
The blockade caused a massive traffic jam for several hours on the busy NH 1 as the protesters also blocked the service lanes along the highway.
“We had to go to meet our relative, who is hospitalised but they did not allow anybody to cross,” said a stranded commuter Randeep Singh of Panipat.
Tyagi was booked on Tuesday after a raiding party of the power department was allegedly attacked by the villagers in Barsat when it visited to check electricity theft.
The protesters alleged that the police were falsely implicating Deepak Tyagi, who was not involved in the attack on the raiding party.