CLASH DURING FILING OF PAPERS IN BHIKHIWIND

TARN TARAN : The ruling Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) workers clashed and resorted to firing at each other outside the nagar panchayat office in Bhikhiwind town of Tarn Taran district on the second last day of the filing of nominations for the civic body elections on Tuesday.

Nearly 50 rounds were fired from the two sides, it is learnt. Even as both the party leaders claimed that two each of their supporters were injured in the violence, the police said they did not have any such report.

Eyewitnesses said hundreds of workers of the two parties engaged in clash for at least half an hour in the presence of police personnel. Two deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) and three station house officers (SHOs) were present at the time of the incident but no arrest was made.

Also, the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates claimed assault by the Congress workers in collusion with the police. They alleged that their candidates were not allowed to file nominations by the ruling party goons on Tuesday. The two parties claimed that their candidates’ nomination files were snatched and four of their workers were injured in the attack.

Earlier, a video clip surfaced on social media wherein nearly a dozen persons were seen assaulting AAP’s candidate from ward number 1 Ranbir Singh. The miscreants were also seen snatching a file from Ranbir and tearing it.

“At around 12 noon, I along with four other candidates and our party leaders went to the nagar panchayat office for filing nomination. But a police team led by Bhikhiwind SHO Sarabjit Singh didn’t allow us to enter. The police personnel pushed us away and asked the Congress workers present there to snatch our files,” said Ranbir.