E-Paper
Dalits hold panchayat officials hostage for ‘dummy land auction’
The protestors, led by Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Committee, were demanding cancellation of the auction of the panchayat land of the village
: The officials of the BDPO office at Sherpur along with the district panchyat officer were on Tuesday held hostage by dalits of Herhike village for around six hours for allegedly conducting a dummy auction of the panchayat land reserved for the community.
The protestors, led by Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Committee, were demanding cancellation of the auction of the panchayat land of the village.
Besides locking the BDPO, DDPO and other officials in their office, the protestors also removed air from the tyres of the officials’ vehicles and locked all three gates of the BDPO office. They then sat on protest at the office.
The officials were allowed to leave in the evening after the department put the auction on hold.
Mukesh Malaud, president of the Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Committee alleged, “the department has given 7-acre land of Herhike village to three dummy candidates of general category and we were demanding them to cancel the auction but they refused to cancel it. Then we locked them at the BDPO office. Later in the evening, they agreed to hold the auction till the next decision.”
However, Sangrur DDPO Shavinder Singh denied the allegation of dummy candidates from general category.
“The auction took place in a fair manner. But we have put the auction on hold in view of the law-and-order situation,” said DDPO.
