Op Bluestar anniv remains peaceful; Community leaders put under house arrest

Ludhiana: The anniversary of Operation Bluestar remained peaceful in the city. Taking proactive action, Ludhiana police put some leaders of Sikh and Hindu community under ‘house arrest’. The police also deployed cops outside their houses to ensure they didn’t move out.
While most of the leaders remained indoor, Youth Akali Dal leader Gurdeep Gosha had a heated argument with cops when he was asked to go home. Following this, the cops had to detain him from Clock Tower area and was taken to police station division number 1. Thereafter, the cops dropped him home.
About 15 leaders of different organisations and communities were asked to remain at home on Saturday. When Gurdeep Gosha reached near clock tower, the cops stopped him and asked him to go home.
YAD leader Gosha said, “I have been distributing langar and ration among needy ones since day one of lockdown. Following my routine, I reached near Clock Tower when cops stopped me. They wanted to detain me, so I asked for the reason. Without explaining any reason, the cops forcefully took me to police station. After half an hour I was dropped at my home. Cops have been deployed outside my house and I was instructed to not step out of the house.”
Gosha added, “I am investigating the seed scam and moreover, I have been organising langar for needy ones for over two months, therefore I was targeted.”
Ashok Thapar, president of Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar Brigade Anti-Terrorist Front, who was also kept under house arrest said, “We had planned to hold a programme at Daresi ground to pay tributes to martyrs who attained martyrdom in the fight against terrorism. The police did not allow them to move out and also sealed Daresi ground.”
Commissioner of police Rakesh Agarwal said, “This is not house arrest. Ludhiana police had requested all leaders to stay at home to maintain peace and law and order in the city. I am thankful that they agreed to stay at home. The allegation of YAD leader Gosha is not true. He was asked to remain at home and when he did not agree, the cops dropped him home. Besides, a team of Ludhiana police is keeping check on social media too.”
Meanwhile SSP Ludhiana Rural Vivek Sheel Soni said that cops were already in liaison with the religious leaders and Gurdwaras across the police district to ensure that there was no disturbance. He added that it went off absolutely peacefully with no slogans or no flex boards. Khanna SSP Harpreet Singh added that cops had made deployment in sensitive areas across the police district.