Lokayat, a democratic rights' organisation, has expressed concern over the police action earlier this month at Nihal Khera and other nearby villages in Fazilka district where even women were not spared.
The incident took place on July 4 when the cops resorted to lathi charge on the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Krantikari) protesters and arrested several of its activists in two days on the charges of kidnapping, assault and attempt to murder.
Accusing the state police of 'state repression' in a press note, Lokayat said that the BKU (Krantikari) activists were holding a peaceful protest against the transfer of four-acre land to a politically influential landlord in Nihal Khera village "in violation of the land tenants act".
"Starting from July 4, police have resorted to lathi charge, conducted raids and registered false cases on charges of attempt to murder against the villagers to wean them off the agitation," said Aarti, a Lokayat spokesperson.
The possession of 4 acres of land in Nihal Khera village has been the bone of contention where Sahib Ram, the tiller of the land for the past 50 years, was deprived of its possession, she said.
The district police, in connivance with the influential family, had transferred the land on the revenue records in violation of the land tenants act, said the Lokayat and the BKU (Krantikari) activists.
The possession of 4 acres of land in Nihal Khera village has been the bone of contention where Sahib Ram, the tiller of the land for the past 50 years, was deprived of its possession, she said.
The district police, in connivance with the influential family, had transferred the land on the revenue records in violation of the land tenants act, said the Lokayat and the BKU (Krantikari) activists.
Police had registered cases against 36 persons on charges of kidnapping and assaulting an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) on the day they were lathicharged on July 4. "How is it possible to kidnap the ASI when nearly 100 policemen, as per the FIR, were present on the day of the protest?" asked BKU district secretary Jagjit Singh Gill.