Bharat Bandh aftermath: 5,000 booked in Punjab for blocking highways, creating disturbance

Around 5,000 people have been booked by the Punjab Police for blocking highways and creating disturbance during the Monday’s Bharat Bandh called by Dalit outfits against the alleged dilution in the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court.

Over 3,500 unidentified people have been booked in the Doaba region alone, which covers Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur districts, with a strong Dalit presence.

As many as 29 FIRs have been registered by the police in the region, including 19 in Jalandhar, five in Kapurthala, three in Nawanshahr and two in Hoshiarpur.

Cases have been registered under Sections145 (unlawful assembly), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 283 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation), 431 (mischief by injury to public road, bridge, river or channel) and relevant sections of the National Highways Act, 1956 against the unidentified protesters.

The Jalandhar commissionerate police have booked FIRs against over 1,000 people for blocking NH-1 at various points.

The Jalandhar rural police also booked at least 1,000 people for holding a protest on the national highway.

In Kapurthala, five FIRs have been registered against over 600 unidentified people for blocking highways.

The Hoshiarpur police have registered two cases against about 500 unidentified people for blocking Jalandhar- Pathankot highway.

The Nawanshahr police registered three FIRs against about 550 people on charges of blocking highways at various places.

Police said that they would identify the protesters from recorded video footages and CCTV cameras installed at nearby locations.

Jalandhar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and Nawanshahr SSP Satinder Singh said that cases have been registered unidentified people for blocking highways and causing inconvenience to commuters.

In Ludhiana, the police booked nearly 1,000 persons and lodged 15 cases against unidentified protesters.

Commissioner of police RN Dhoke said, “Over 1,000 protesters have been booked who protested in various parts of the city. We will be investigating to ascertain the identity of the accused.”

300 booked in Amritsar

In Amritsar, around 300 people were booked for Monday’s blockades.The civil lines police of the district booked around 200 unidentified persons while the rural police of the district booked around 100 persons, including 16 by names.

200 booked in Ferozepur

As many as 200 unidentified people were booked in Ferozepur for indulging in vandalism at the office of divisional regional manager of the Northern Railways.