24 protesters, 3 cops hurt in clash at Badal village

Badal/Muktsar : As many as 24 protesting activists of the Punjab State Suwidha Centre Employees’ Union and three policemen were injured in a clash after the police resorted to lathicharge to disperse them at Badal village today.
The state government has already terminated their services and also made the suwidha centres functional, but the protesters are still demanding regular jobs.
Around 1 pm, the protesters started moving towards the CM’s residence from a stadium at Lambi village where they had been observing a relay fast for the past 10 days. They have been lodging their protest for the past 38 days. They crossed the barricades at Lambi and Kheowali villages, allegedly hurled stones at the police and entered Badal village. The police launched a lathicharge. This led to a scuffle between the police and protesters. The police lobbed teargas shells and used water cannon to disperse the protesters, but they didn’t budge. Some protesters were bundled in police vehicles and taken to Lambi police station. The rest blocked the Kheowali-Bathinda road at Badal village, seeking action against the police. Later, they were detained and taken to different police stations. Some protesters claimed that the policemen fired shots into the air. However, the police denied it. Union president Harmeet Singh claimed, “We were moving towards Badal village so that some senior officer would come to hear our woes and arrange a panel meeting with the CM. However, the police beat us up. Some policemen abused some women activists. They were dragged and thrashed by policemen and their clothes were torn off. Kuldeep Kaur from Jalandhar, who is five-month pregnant, was beaten up.”