Chandigarh: Hundreds of protesters belonging to the Quami Insaaf Morcha clashed with the Chandigarh Police Wednesday as they tried to forcibly enter the city to meet Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
Chandigarh DGP Praveer Ranjan told media persons that 25 to 30 police personnel, including half a dozen RAF jawans, were injured in the clash.
Official statement by DGP Chandigarh on todays violence by supporters of Quami Insaaf Morcha at Mohali-Chandigarh Border.@ssputchandigarh @ssptfcchd @trafficchd pic.twitter.com/HPpRWAYjf7
— Chandigarh Police #Citizen First (@ChdPol) February 8, 2023
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference Wednesday evening, organisers of the morcha blamed the Chandigarh administration for the incident. They said the administration had ‘organised’ unidentified persons to pelt stones at the protesters that led to the clash.
The Quami Insaaf Morcha, a permanent sit-in agitation, began on the Mohali-Chandigarh border on 7 January to demand the release of nine Sikh prisoners who were convicted of various crimes during the period of militancy in the 1980s and 1990s, and had been incarcerated for decades.
Earlier this week, the organisers decided to send a delegation or ‘jatha‘ of 31 members every day from the protest site to where the police barricades have been placed in order to try and enter Chandigarh, meet CM Mann and give him a memorandum of their demands.
While the march of 31 protesters went off smoothly on Monday, heated arguments took place between the Chandigarh Police and the protesters (who had increased in number) Tuesday.
The police Wednesday used water cannons to disperse the protesters and stop them from entering Chandigarh. The agitators then tried to break the barricades, following which the police resorted to lathi charge.
Hundreds of enraged protesters, including some Nihang Sikhs on horseback and allegedly armed with kirpans, attacked police personnel, forcing them to retreat. Some of the protesters even managed to get atop a water cannon. They also allegedly snatched the batons and protective gear of the police personnel.
While the protesters alleged that the violence began after the police started pelting stones at the ‘peaceful jatha’ that was moving towards Chandigarh, the police said it was the other way round.
“There were unruly elements inside the protesters who started pelting stones at the police…The protesters did not even spare the police personnel who fell down while running away or left alone and beat them up mercilessly. It’s all there in news footage,” Ranjan said.
Videos that have emerged from the incident show police personnel trying to save themselves from the protesters.
“The agitators used lathis and kirpans to damage the parked vehicles of police, including the anti-riot vehicle Vajra. They have damaged the water cannon vehicle and have taken away a fire tender,” added Ranjan.
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‘Protesters who attacked cops would be identified’
A tractor was also brought in by the protesters to break the police barricades. The agitators were, however, asked to come back to the protest site by morcha leaders and not proceed towards Chandigarh.
The DGP said an FIR would be lodged against those who had attacked the police with dangerous weapons.
“The protesters who attacked the police would be individually identified and named in the FIR. Ever since the protest started we have been in contact with the Punjab Police to ensure that armed protestants don’t reach the Chandigarh forder from Mohali but today (Wednesday) it was clear that these protesters are heavily armed and they chose to use all that on us,” said Ranjan.
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