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Ludhiana lawyers stick to their guns, leave commuters at receiving end
Refuse to life protest till police register FIR against STF in-charge inspector Harbans Singh, bottlenecks remains order of the day at Bharat Nagar Chowk and Bhai Bala Chowk
Residents continued to bear the brunt of advocates’ protest for the third consecutive day on Saturday, as the protesters blocked Ludhiana-Ferozepur highway outside the mini-secretariat.
Serpentine queues were seen on the highway, a major road passing through the centre of the city, as advocates laid siege to the stretch outside the mini-secretariat. This further derailed traffic movement between two prominent intersections — Bharat Nagar Chowk and Bhai Bala Chowk.
The protest began around 10am on Saturday when advocates swarmed outside the mini-secretariat and placed chairs on the road. Raising slogans against special task force (STF) in-charge inspector Harbans Singh, they demanded an FIR against him for allegedly assaulting a Khanna-based advocate, Varun Gupta, earlier this week. The lawyers also raised slogans against the Punjab Police, district administration and the state government for not taking any legal action against the inspector.
Addressing the gathering, Shyam Sunder, general secretary of the District Bar Association, said even three days on, the police and administration had failed to act against the inspector. “During a meeting on Friday, the authorities had tried to pacify us by saying that they will shift the inspector to police lines. But, we will not relent till an FIR is registered against him and he is suspended,” he said.
The protest continued even during the heavy rainfall, before it was lifted at 5pm.
POLITICIANS JOIN CHORUS
A number of MLAs, including Rakesh Pandey, Simarjeet Singh Bains and Sarvjit Kaur Manuke, met the protesting advocates and extended support to them.
Former Punjab deputy speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal also turned up and condemned the alleged assault. Terming the incident “an insult of advocates”, he demanded police action against the inspector.
TRAFFIC JAMS GALORE
With the traffic police blocking entry on both sides of the road between Bharat Nagar Chowk and Bhai Bala Chowk, commuters were diverted from several intersection points via Pakhowal Road, Ghumar Mandi, Mall Road, Bus Stand Road, Dugri Road, Kochar Market Road and BRS Nagar.
This led to bottlenecks on Ferozepur Road near Sunet crossing and Verka Milk Plant, Pakhowal Road, Atam Nagar Chowk, Ghumar Mandi and several other approaching roads.
Buses, approaching the city from Ferozepur, were not allowed to go straight from BRS Nagar bypass and were diverted via Lodhi Club underpass towards Phullanwal Chowk to Dugri.
Similarly, commuters coming from Dholewal side towards bus stand were diverted via Atam Nagar to Dugri Road (except buses and two-wheelers).
Anjali Gupta, a city resident was forced to walk with her child through the blocked route, in absence of access to any public transport from Bhai Bala Chowk to reach SBS Nagar. “I am coming from railway station. I’ll have to walk from Bharat Nagar Chowk to Bhai Bala Chowk to get an auto to reach my destination,” she lamented.
BAR ELECTIONS ROUND THE CORNER
With elections for the District Bar Association slated for April 3, lawyers from various groups seem to be leaving no stone unturned to come out in support of the “assaulted” Khanna lawyer. The advocates refusing to relent after holding traffic to ransom for three days has raised several eyebrows, with many seeing their stir as an opportunity to further their standing. “If any group fails to join the protest, it will be seen as its weak point,” said one of the protesters, requesting anonymity.
DHABA OWNER CLAIMS NO MANHANDLING TOOK PLACE
Amid the impasse between lawyers and police over the alleged assault of advocate Varun Gupta at a dhaba near Manji Sahib Gurdwara on February 25, a video of the dhaba owner has emerged showing him revealing a contrary picture.
In the video, circulating on various social networking sites, the dhaba owner, Rajinder Singh, has claimed that no manhandling took place between STF in-charge inspector Harbans Singh and the advocate.
Rajinder recorded a similar statement before sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Sagar Setia on Saturday.
In the video, Rajinder is purportedly claiming that he owns the dhaba where the incident took place. He was present there when only a misunderstanding took place between the advocate and some cops, which was resolved immediately. The STF chief and advocate also had tea at the eatery thereafter.
Gupta had alleged that the inspector slapped him in front of his father and also threatened to implicate him in a drug peddling case. While he had earlier refuted the allegations, Harbans could not be immediately contacted for comments despite repeated attempts.
A blue-eyed boy among senior police officials, Harbans has led the recovery of over 200kg heroin, 3kg ice drug, 35kg opium and drug money worth ₹2 crore during his tenure as the in-charge of STF, Ludhiana. Before being transferred to STF, he had served as the in-charge of anti-narcotics cell, Ludhiana police.
The inspector has already earned three DGP Commendation Discs and the President’s Police Medal for his work against drug peddling.
