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Phagwara frenzy after banners removed
Protesters block national highway, damage vehicles
Dharmendra Joshi
Tribune News Service

Phagwara, February 12
Several vehicles, including three Punjab Roadways buses, as many number of cars and at least six two-wheelers, were damaged in and around Phagwara as a mob blocked the Amritsar-New Delhi national highway No. 1 for about four hours.

The mob was protesting against the removal of some banners put up by several organisations, including the Ambedkar Sena, for Ravidass Jayanti falling on February 20. State president of the Sena Surinder Dhanda alleged that some National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) men had hurt the religious sentiments of the Ravidass community.

Some armed youths smashed the window panes of three buses, including two of Nawanshahr and one of Ludhiana depot, near Chaheru at around 4 pm after two and a half hours of lifting of the blockade.

According to eyewitnesses, the protesters came from Jalandhar side and forcibly stopped the two Phagwara-bound and one Jalandhar-bound buses on the highway and smashed the window panes. A driver of one of the buses sustained injuries.

Earlier, the protesters blocked the national highway at around 9.15 am at the Gole, Rest House and Chachoki chowks and near Jamalpur village on the Jalandhar-Ludhiana highway. When the police started diverting the traffic from Chandigarh bypass, some protesters reached there also and blocked the bypass.

The protesters damaged three cars, one Indica, one Esteem and one Scorpio, near Jamalpur village and at least six scooters and motorcycles near the Rest House chowk.

Several groups of protesters were seen making rounds of several markets of Phagwara, forcing shopkeepers to close shops.

Phagwara SDM Amarjit Pal and senior police officers, including SP (H) Chaman Lal, SP (D) Sukhwinder Singh, DSP H.P.S. Khakh, tried to persuade the protesters to lift the blockade.

However, the 11-member committee of the protesters demanded arrest of the NHAI men for hurting their religious sentiments and an assurance from Kapurthala DC J.M. Balamurugan that no such incident would recur.

Later an FIR under Section 295 A, IPC, was registered against the three NHAI men at the Phagwara Sadar police station, SSP Rakesh Agarwal said, adding that two of them had been arrested. On learning this, the committee members agreed to lift the blockade at about 1.30 pm. The situation was tense but under control in and around Phagwara.

Indo-Pak buses diverted

Lahore-bound Sada-e-Sarhad and Delhi-bound Dosti buses being run between India and Pakistan got delayed by about 45 minutes as the routes of both buses had to be diverted due to the blockade. According to sources, the Sada-e-Sarhad bus was diverted from Phillaur to Nurmahal, Jandiala for reaching Jalandhar. Similarly, the Dosti bus was diverted from Jalandhar to Jandiala and Nurmahal for reaching Phillaur.