M A I N   N E W S

US Nagar issue: 50 hurt in lathi charge
Tribune News Service

RUDRAPUR, Aug 5 — In the first incident of violence in the ongoing agitation against the inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar district in the new state of Uttaranchal, as many as 50 persons were injured in two separate lathi charges at Rudrapur and Gadarpur towns in this district today.

Responding to the bandh call of the Udham Singh Nagar Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, protesters had blocked traffic at several points since this morning paralysing movement throughout the district. When several attempts to lift the blockades proved unsuccessful, the police resorted to a lathi charge at around 3 p.m. at Rudrapur and Gadarpur, where large crowds of protesters had assembled. Several of those injured had to be hospitalised.

Among those severely injured was Thakur Rai Singh, the working president of the samiti. Talking to the mediapersons today he blamed the police for resorting to draconian measures.