Panchkula ACP among 16 cops injured as protesting villagers turn violent

Police team had gone to disperse locals blocking road to stop mining at Rattewali village

Sixteen cops, including ACP Raj Kumar, were injured — six of them gravely — after being attacked by protesters at Rattewali village, 20km from Panchkula district headquarters, on Tuesday.

The locals, who had blocked a road to stop mining in the area, damaged government vehicles and pelted stones at the police team, which had gone there to disperse them.

“The government has allotted mining contract in Rattewali, but some miscreants had blocked the way for the past few days and were also obstructing vehicular movement,” said ACP Raj Kumar. After a dialogue failed on October 31, the protesters were issued a notice to vacate the area, but they remained adamant.

Around noon, a police team along with duty magistrate Sunil Jakhara went to the spot to disperse the crowd. “At 1:30pm, they started pelting stones at us, and damaged an ambulance, my official vehicle and three other government vehicles. One of them even fired in the air. Initially there were around 120 of them, but their number swelled soon,” said the ACP.

“The crowd got too violent within minutes. We ran towards the fields to save ourselves,” said home guard Ankit Kumar. Among others, ACP’s gunman Sonu got a severe injury on his right eye and head.

DCP Mohit Handa said the cops were fully prepared but exercised self-restraint. A case of attempt to murder besides under other relevant sections has been registered against the protesters, he said, adding that 14 of them have been rounded up. “Police teams have been deployed to keep the situation under control,” he said.

What mining officer, village sarpanch say

According to mining officer Omdut Sharma 45 hectares of riverbed area was auctioned to a Jharkhand company in 2017. Mining started in September, after environmental clearance and other formalities.

As villagers protested on September 26, highlighting irregularities, a panel probed the matter and the firm was fined ₹53 lakh for digging more than the permissible limit. The contractor deposited ₹26 lakh on October 30, but the villagers were still not relenting.

Sarpanch Roki Ram said the contractor has been allowed to resume digging without taking villagers into confidence, even as their fields are just next to the mining site. “Also, earlier some percentage of the revenue was shared with the panchayat or farmers, but this time we have got nothing,” he said.