Ropar, December 1
Pandemonium, traffic blockades, lathicharge on SAD workers and throwing of stones on policemen in Ropar district marked the appearance of a former Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and his son, Mr Sukhbir Badal, in the special court here today in a corruption case registered against them by the Vigilance Bureau.

Following the “Ropar chalo” call of SAD leaders, party workers started pouring into the district since morning. A scuffle between SAD workers and the police started at about 7.30 a.m. at the Anandpur Sahib railway station. At least 100 workers of the SAD, led by a former SGPC President, Bibi Jagir Kaur, tried to board a train for Ropar from Anandpur Sahib. The police resorted to a mild lathicharge at the Anandpur Sahib railway station to disperse the workers. However, most of the workers, along with Bibi Jagir Kaur, managed to board the train.

They were, however, detained at the Ropar railway station and taken to the Sadar police station.

Mr Parkash Singh Badal, along with Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, President of the SGPC, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, a former Finance Minister, and Mr Mahesh Inder Singh, a former minister, reached the Water Lily restaurant, about 200 metres from the Ropar judicial court complex.

As news of the arrival of Mr Parkash Singh Badal in Ropar spread in the area, at least 600 SAD workers, who were staying at the Bhatha Sahib gurdwara, started moving towards the main road, raising slogans against the Congress government. As the workers tried to approach the main road, the police resorted to lathicharge, resulting in injuries to many Akali workers. Mr Ajit Singh Kohar, a former minister, lost his turban and received injuries on his wrist. The police tried to push the Akali workers back into the gurdwara, but in vain. The Akali workers, led by the MLAs Ranjit Singh Talwandi, Bagh Singh Mallah and former minister Sucha Singh Langah stood their ground.

The police also stopped SAD workers moving towards Ropar at Kurali, the Ropar Police Lines and on the Ropar-Nawanshahr, Ropar-Nurpurbedi and Ropar-Nangal roads.

However, a convoy led by Mr Sukhbir Badal came breaking all barricades on the Ropar-Chandigarh road. As the convoy reached Ropar, workers sitting in dharna at the Bhatha Sahib gurdwara broke barricades and started marching in procession towards the judicial court complex.

The general secretary of the SAD, Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder, a former minister, Mr Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, a former SGPC President, Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, and former ministers Sikandar Singh Malooka and Jamneja Singh Sekhon also joined the procession. The SAD workers then blocked traffic on the new bridge on the Sirhind canal disrupting the movement of traffic on the Ropar-Nawanshahr road. When the police tried to disperse the workers from the bridge, they resorted to stone-throwing in which 12 policemen were injured. In the retaliatory lathicharge, an equal number of SAD workers were injured. After blocking traffic on the bridge for about half-an-hour, the SAD workers moved to the Water Lily restaurant.

Later, a group of SAD workers blocked traffic on the Ropar-Chandigarh road. They were, however, soon dispersed by the police.

Despite a heavy deployment of the police, some SAD workers managed to reach the judicial court complex and its vicinity. Some of them staged a dharna outside the complex, while others raised slogans inside the complex as Mr Badal was being taken a Patiala jail for judicial custody.

Meanwhile, at a joint press conference held later by the Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, Ms Seema Jain, and the DIG, Ludhiana Range, Mr S. Chatopadhya, claimed that all efforts of the SAD workers to block traffic had failed.

They dismissed rumours that an Akali worker had died in lathicharge near Kurali. Rumours were rife that SAD worker Jatinder Singh Jaito, vice-president of the Rashtriya Youth Akali Dal, had died due to serious injuries received during lathicharge at Kurali this morning.

Mr Chatopadhya said at least 200 SAD workers, including Bibi Jagir Kaur, who were detained under Section 107/51 of the CrPC, were later released.

Our reporters add: Mr Gurinder Singh Dhillon, SSP, Sangrur, issued red alert orders to police officers in Sangrur police district to avoid any untoward incident following the judicial remand for Mr Parkash Singh Badal.

With more arrests of SAD activists by the police on Monday, the total number of arrested Akalis in Sangrur district now stands at 375.