Jalandhar, February 21
Stung by the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for its inability to book the rioters and arsonists following the killing of Sant Ramanand of Dera Sachkhand (Ballan) in Vienna, the police has finally started recording the statements of the witnesses.
State and private property worth over Rs 300 crore had been damaged or torched by the rioters following the murder of the religious figure by alleged Sikh hardliners. The rioting took place on the night intervening May 24 and 25 and it took days for the police to bring the situation under control. Only seven cases had been registered by the police.
A team, headed by an SP-rank officer, has been making the rounds of the affected areas to identify the accused. The worst case was the torching of four bogies and a recovery van of the Jammu-Tawi Express at the cantonment railway station, which also bore the brunt of the arsonists and rioters. Similar damage was witnessed at the Phillaur railway station and the newly built court complex there that was ransacked by angry mobs. The Railways also posted its damages upwards of Rs 50 crore.
Sources said the team members had shown the footage of some youngsters, who had tried to set a petrol pump ablaze on the Pathankot road, to the residents of the nearby areas. They had been unable to make any headway so far, they added.
The reprimand came after the court was told that the police had registered only seven cases that were not in consonance with the damage in crores of rupees. As many as 34 cases were registered in Jalandhar district, out of which 14 were related to the city alone. The court had observed that none of the guilty should go scot free, the sources said.
The extent of the damage could be gauged from the fact that 170 vehicles of various makes were torched on May 24 and 25 in Punjab, 121 were set ablaze in Jalandhar only, they revealed.
The roadways, too, was affected and reported losses of Rs 23 crore in terms of damage to 31 buses and scores of bus shelters and terminals. This sum also included suspension of its services in the affected areas for many days.
Private bus and truck operators, too, were not spared by arsonists, who set 23 private buses, seven mini buses and 17 trucks afire. Again the worst affected was Jalandhar where 56 cars were torched on May 24, while nine jeeps were set afire the next day, the sources added.
In neighbouring Kapurthala, some miscreants damaged some coaches of a train, but extensively damaged its engine. Hoshiarpur too had its share of arson with 15 vehicles being torched or damaged by the rioters, while the number of such vehicles was 14 in Nawanshahr, the sources revealed.
This did not take into account the damage suffered in the interiors of the affected district and the exact sum could never the determined. Those who had witnessed the mayhem in those days also questioned the effectiveness of the policemen in going after the accused after a lapse of over three years. In many cases, the trial had gone cold, literally, they pointed out.
Stung by the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for its inability to book the rioters and arsonists following the killing of Sant Ramanand of Dera Sachkhand (Ballan) in Vienna, the police has finally started recording the statements of the witnesses.
