Hisar, September 3
An angry mob, seeking a CBI probe into the murder of former legislator Relu Ram Poonia and his seven family members, burnt nine buses and a government Jeep at Litani village, near here, this evening.

Trouble began when the ‘rasam pagri’ ceremony of Poonia was almost half way through. About 100 persons had gathered at the village to participate in the function. There were about 200 youths in the crowd.

Several senior political leaders of the area, cutting across party lines. were also present there. Most of them echoed the crowd’s sentiment that the murders could not be the handiwork of Poonia’s 20-year-old daughter Sonia alone who had confessed to the crime and is currently in police custody.

Before the ceremony could be completed, the angry youths left the venue, raising anti-police slogans and blocked traffic on the Litani crossing a few hundred metres from Poonia’s palatial mansion in the village. They detained five buses and set them afire after the passengers got down.

Another group moved to the nearby Surewala Chowk where it blocked traffic and burnt four buses. A government Jeep belonging to the Education Department was also detained and set afire.

The SDM, Mr Balraj Mor, and the DSP, Mr Maan Singh, rushed to the spot and tried to control the violence. The mob, however, did not listen and pelted stones on them and the accompanying police parties. The police fired several teargas shells which helped control violence.

However, since the crowd outnumbered the police, reinforcements were sought from here and other nearby police stations. There were no immediate reports of injuries to anybody.