Patiala village tense, bid to set shop on fire

PATIALA: Tension gripped Gulahar village in Pattran segment of the district on Thursday after some unidentified persons tried to set a shop on fire. It was of the accused in rape and murder case of a 15-year-old girl. The girl had gone missing on Monday evening and her half burnt body had been recovered by the police on Wednesday. Preliminary investigations revealed that the girl had been kidnapped, raped, murdered and the accused had tried to chop off her body before setting it on fire in the Khanouri segment of Sangrur district.
A large number of villagers later gathered in the Command grounds of the village and shouted slogans and protested against the sarpanch alleging that the sarpanch was protecting the accused. The villagers though prevented the fire. As tempers ran high during the protest, police had already reached the village, and sent out reinforcements to prevent any untoward incident. A few hours later, the protesting villagers started moving towards the NH61 where they laid a blockade and protested for over four hours till 6 pm.
According to police, the situation in the village was still tense but under control. Though, some police personnel had been stationed in the village, there were reports that some individuals were moving around the house of sarpanch and there was apprehension that the sarpanch or his house could be attacked. Meanwhile, police claimed that they have arrested two persons in this regard. The post-mortem on the body of the 15-year-old was conducted at the Sangrur civil hospital and the final report is still awaited.