M A I N   N E W S

Farmers lift dharna, probe ordered
Varinder Walia and Pawan Kumar

Manawali (Amritsar), March 30
The decision on a magisterial inquiry taken by the District Magistrate into the death of a youth in a farmer-police clash here yesterday has been rejected by the Kisan Sangharsh Committee and the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta) while their joint dharna has been lifted after a 24-hour rail traffic dharna here today.

The District Magistrate Mr Raminder Singh, said the SDM had been directed to inquire the cause of the death of Angrez Singh, a resident of Bakipur village, within 15 days. He said the inquiry officer would ascertain whether Angrez Singh had died in police firing or with bullets fired by the agitating farmers.

The General Railway Police booked 26 farmers, including Mr Kanwalpreet Singh Pannu, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Railways Act and the Arms Act for causing damage to railway property and creating hurdles in the way of discharging official duties.

Both KSC and BKU (E) lifted their joint dharna at 11 am after completion of a 24-hour blocking of railway traffic on the Amritsar-Jalandhar track, causing a lot of inconvenience to the general public, especially kar sevaks who had come here.

Mr Pannu said the KSC and the BKU(E) would give a call of farmers to burn an effigy of the Punjab Government for three days from April 3 at tehsil and block level. He said the next course of agitation would be announced on April 7 to mark the bhog ceremony of Angrez Singh.

The body of Angrez Singh was cremated at his native village Bakipur. The agitating farmers announced that their peaceful agitation would be continued till the acceptance of their demands. Ms Amarjit Kaur, widow of Angrez Singh, said her husband was the only bread-winner for the family. She said it was difficult for her to carry the burden of family as the deceased owned only one and half acres.

Five trains were terminated from different stations while three trains were cancelled owing to disruption in rail traffic due to the dharna. While Asansol Express was terminated from Jalandhar, Jan Seva was re-routed from Ludhiana. Jan Nayak was turned back from Phagwara, deluxe from Ludhiana and Dadar Express from Beas. Three trains — Pathankot passenger, Ludhiana passenger and Ravi Express — were cancelled.

Many passengers of Shatabdi Express, scheduled to arrive last night at 10.15 pm, could not reach here and many Amritsar-bound passengers had to be brought from Jalandhar railway station. Many passengers scheduled for late at night could find no taxis, buses or hotel rooms.

N. Rlys cancels 4 trains due to BKU stir
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 30
The Northern Railway has cancelled four trains due to disruption of traffic by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). According to a press note issued by Northern Railway here today, BKU demonstrators disrupted the traffic between Manawal and Jandiala stations of the Jalandhar-Amritsar section by sitting on the tracks.

Five trains have been terminated short of their destinations. These include 1057 Dadar-Amritsar Express at Beas, 2319 Asansol-Amritsar Express at Jalandhar City, 5209 Jansewa-Barauni-Amritsar Express at Ludhiana, 2013 Amristar Shatabdi at Jalandhar City and 5211 Darbhanga-Amritsar Jannayak Express at Phagwara.