The truck drivers from Tamil Nadu in Sector 3, Panchkula, on Friday. Express
Seven truck drivers from faraway Tamil Nadu unexpectedly found themselves targets of the violence that erupted in Panchkula on Friday. But the violence they faced came from uniformed personnel who thrashed them assuming they were Dera followers, and also smashed the windscreens of their trucks parked behind Chaudhary Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Sector 3.
“We kept telling them with folded hands that we have nothing to do with the Dera and that we came here to load apples from the Kisan Mandi in Sector 20, Panchkula. But nobody listened to us. Some of the uniformed personnel even picked heavy stones from the ground and smashed the front windscreen of our trucks,” said Subaramani, 52, from Salem district in Tamil Nadu. The truck drivers said they were assaulted by men in khaki uniforms.
Including the six drivers, there were 13 people in all, and they are all from Tamil Nadu’s Salem. They came three days ago to pick up consignments of apples, and were advised to park their trucks behind the stadium, where thousands of Dera followers had assembled.
Jayavel, 29, a helper with one of the trucks, who suffered injuries on his right leg, said, “One of the uniformed men picked a heavy stone from the ground and hit it on my right leg. They were not ready to listen to us.” Murugesan, 53, another truck driver, said, “Language barrier also became another problem for us. We cannot speak Hindi and they were also not ready to listen to us.”
The group said they were not sure if the uniformed personnel were from local police or paramilitary forces but all of them were dressed in khaki uniforms, wearing safety gears on head and carried lathis and rifles. At the site, where six trucks of Tamil Nadu people were parked, vehicles of Dera followers were also parked and the vehicles of followers were also damaged in the clashes. Subaramani said, “We have conveyed the damage of trucks to our owners in Tamil Nadu.”
