E-Paper
Evicted from encroached land, family tries to burn Ludhiana horticulture dept team
Driver suffers burn on hands, while other team members run to safety.
Five members of a Majara Kalan family, including three women, have been booked for trying to burn alive a team of the horticulture department visiting a piece of land previously encroached by them.
While most of the team members took shelter in a room on the land, their driver, Rakesh Kumar, suffered burns in the attack.
The accused have been identified as Shamsher Singh, Lakwinder Singh and their sisters, Darshna, Sonia and Sarabjit Kaur.
Dinesh Kumar, director of the Ludhiana horticulture department, told the police that the department took possession of 76 acres of encroached land at Majara Kalan village in Ladhowal on August 7.
Out of this, 26 acres were encroached by Shamsher’s family. They had planted paddy, and poplar and guava trees on the land. One of his sisters had consumed some poisonous substance to protest against this action and had died at DMCH on August 7.
On Thursday, when a team visited the village for plantation on the acquired land, Shamsher and his four siblings turned up there and tried to set them afire after dousing them with petrol.
Though most of them ran to safety, their driver suffered burn injuries on his hands.
He alleged the family also pelted them with stones and tried to assault them with sharp-edged weapons.
As they managed to call the police, they fled from the spot. Later, police rescued them.
ASI Sandeep Singh, who is investigating the case, said the five siblings had been booked under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 447 (criminal trespass), 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house, etc), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code. A hunt is on for their arrest.
