Bathinda man booked for boating on waterlogged streets

BATHINDA: A day after a former councillor of Bathinda staged a symbolic protest by boating in the waterlogged streets of Parasram Nagar, police booked Vijay Kumar Sharma under Section 336 of the Indian Penal Code for endangering the life or personal safety of others.

Sharma took a few local residents, mostly excited children, along for a ride on his pedal boat on Tuesday to highlight the administration’s negligence in addressing the problem of waterlogging in the locality every monsoon. According to the office of the Bathinda SSP, Sharma has been charged with taking children on the boat who were not wearing safety gear, thus putting their lives at risk.

A case was registered at the Canal police station on Wednesday night. However, Sharma said the police and civil administration were trying to intimidate him.