Barnala, December 30
The police have booked 165 members of the Schedule Caste (SC) community for causing injury to a local Station House Officer (SHO) and three other cops during a clash over the ownership of a piece of land in the city. Following this, members of the SC community have announced to launch an agitation if the authorities fail to withdraw the case.
‘Withdraw case’
- The Tapa Nagar Council authorities claim that the land belongs to the council, but the SC community members maintain they are its owners
- “The land belongs to the SC community and the council does not have any right to construct a park there. The police have registered a false case. We will launch a stir if it is not withdrawn,” said SAD’s Satnam Singh Rahi
The police have registered a case under Sections 333, 354, 353, 186, 148 and 149 of the IPC and the Arms Act against Lachman Das Sahota, Gupreet Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Makhan Singh, Gurmukh Singh and 160 unidentified persons, including 60 women and 100 men.
Tapa police station SHO Gurlal Singh, who suffered injuries during the clash, alleged in the FIR that the accused started hurling stones and bricks and attacked the cops when the police had gone to the disputed site for a meeting of residents with the administration. The residents, however, alleged that the police came there without any valid reason and resorted to lathicharge to vacate the land.
“The land belongs to the SC community and the Tapa Nagar Council does not have any right to construct a park there. The police have registered a false case against 165 members of the community. We will launch a stir if the case is not withdrawn,” said Satnam Singh Rahi, SAD candidate from Bhadaur.
The council authorities claimed the land belonged to the council, but the SC community members maintained they were its owners. An SHO, three other policemen and some members of the SC community were injured after a clash erupted here on Wednesday. The situation turned tense after a few locals were stopped from constructing a gurdwara on a vacant plot near the Tapa tehsil complex. Investigation Officer ASI Jasvir Singh said they were conducting raids to arrest the accused. — TNS
165 booked for clash that left 4 cops hurt
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