E-Paper
Punjab govt officials forced to burn stubble: Bathinda police go slow on case
Two weeks on, seven persons named in FIR yet to be arrested in case where a three-member government team was forced to burn stubble at Nehianwala village
It’s been two weeks since a three-member government team was forced to burn stubble at Nehianwala village but only two out of the nine accused in the case have been arrested so far.
The Bathinda police seem to be going slow on the case even though chief minister Bhagwant Mann had ordered strict action against the accused.
Two of the accused, Surjit Singh and Shivraj Singh, had been arrested on November 6, following which the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) had launched an agitation against the authorities outside the Nehianwala police station. The union had also threatened to intensify the agitation if the rest of the accused were arrested.
State president of BKU’s Sidhupur faction, Jagjit Singh Dallewal said that the government had failed to give financial assistance to farmers for rice residue management due to which paddy growers are left with no choice but to burn it.
As per the data of the Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) on Friday, Bathinda has so far seen 2,696 farm fires, making it the district with the third-highest number of cases in the state.
Between November 4 and 17, Bathinda saw 2,179 farm fires, which make for 80% of the total fires reported this season so far. Speaking about the case wherein government officials were taken hostage, Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gulneet Khurana said, “The administration has taken a serious view of the incident. The case is not closed. Efforts are on to nab the other seven accused.”
On farm fires, the SSP said a total of 95 FIRs have been registered against unidentified persons for burning paddy stubble.
“As per the standard procedure, a case is registered on the basis of a geo-location taken through the satellite. The name of a culprit is included on the basis of the revenue department report on who owns the land or has cultivated the field taken on lease,” added the SSP.
The case
On November 3, a three-member team, led by public works department (PWD) sub-divisional engineer (SDE) Harpreet Sagar, had reached Nehianawala village following a tip-off and found a paddy field, belonging to one Ram Singh, on fire. As soon as Sagar and two other junior engineers reached the spot, the BKU activists not only held them hostage but also forced them to set the crop residue afire. A video of farmers forcing the officials to burn the stubble was posted on social media, sparking an outrage.
The CM had on November 4 expressed his displeasure over the incident and posted the video on social networking site X.
Within hours of the CM’s feed on X, a case was registered at Nehianwala police station on November 4, under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) 506 (criminal Intimidation) 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
These villagers, who were associated with the BKU (Ekta Sidhupur), were booked after their identities were established on the basis of a video that went viral on social media.
