4 HRTC buses vandalised in Amritsar, FIR lodged
A similar incident took place on March 18 an HRTC bus (Chandigarh-Hamirpur) was vandalised at Kharar near Mohali in Punjab
Four buses of Himachal Pradesh Transport Corporation (HRTC) were damaged and defaced with ‘Khalistan’ slogans on Friday night by unknown persons at Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) in Amritsar.
The vandalism was noticed by the locals and staff of the buses on Saturday morning. Their windscreens were broken and the word ‘Khalistan’ was found written in Punjabi on vehicles’ front and sides.
After being informed, the police reached the ISBT to take stock of situation. The slogans were removed and an investigation was initiated after registering an FIR against unknown persons.
The affected buses include those plying on the Amritsar-Bilaspur, Amritsar-Sujanpur, and Amritsar-Jwala Ji routes. “We were sleeping in our rest room. In the morning, we found the buses damaged. It appears that the miscreants pelted stones at the buses to damage their window panes. We have lodged a complaint with the local police besides informing our senior officers who are coming to take stock of situation,” said HRTC conductor Kashmiri Lal.
Police officials said action is being taken and culprits will be nabbed soon.
A similar incident took place on March 18 an HRTC bus (Chandigarh-Hamirpur) was vandalised at Kharar near Mohali in Punjab. In connection with this incident, police arrested Rupnagar resident Hardeep Singh and Fazilka resident Gagandeep Singh. Besides, Dal Khalsa activists pasted portraits of slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale on Himachal buses.
After these incidents, the HRTC indefinitely suspended services on 10 routes to Punjab even as chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu spoke to his counterpart Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday.
The row escalated following a recent face off over the display of flags with Bhindranwale’s photo on motorcycles of tourists from Punjab in Manali.
In the purported video clips, local people and the cops were seen objecting to the flags. Locals were also seen removing the flags and crushing them under their feet. Manali police registered FIRs against the tourists for allegedly violating rules, creating chaos and indiscipline, on complaints of locals. The development in HP invited harsh reactions from Punjab, especially Sikh segments. Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj and SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami also condemned the action against Bhindranwale’s photo.
