Hisar, March 6
At least one person was killed and about 20 injured as Jats protesting against the early-morning police swoop on pro-reservation protesters allegedly exchanged fire with the police at Ramayan village, near here, this evening.

The deceased has been identified as Sandeep (20) of Mayyar village. His body was brought to the General Hospital here by his friend, Manoj, who claimed that a bullet hit him in the stomach.

While Manoj claimed his friend was killed when the police opened fire, the police maintained that he was killed when Jats fired at policemen and a stray bullet hit him.

ASP Rahul Sharma was also reported to have been seriously injured in the clash.

While everything appeared to be normal after the early-morning crackdown till noon, the Jats met at Ladwa village, near here, and decided to march to Ramayan to occupy the rail track. Hundreds of Jats from other neighbouring villages joined them at Ramayan.

The police tried to prevail upon them to disperse but the protesters began pelting stones on security personnel which made the police resort to use of force. The police first used water canons and then lobbed tear gas shells. However, the crowd refused to disperse. The policemen then resorted to a cane charge and firing in the air.

The police claimed that many protesters carried firearms and fired at policemen after which the police had to open fire.

The seriously injured persons were rushed to the Medical University hospital at Rohtak. While four of the injured were admitted to a hospital in Hansi, eight were brought to the General Hospital here. The police has sealed off the area. Reports last received from the village said the protesters were still squatting on the track.

Earlier, in an early-morning swoop, the police removed all pro-reservation Jat protestoers from Ramayan village and took into custody the main leaders spearheading the protest.

The police sent the four men, who had been on an indefinite fast, to the Medical University hospital at Rohtak. Those taken into custody included Ram Bhagat Malik and Dharampal Chhot. Both were picked by police parties from their homes.

The operation began around 5 am today. The police closed the national highway No. 10 at Mayyar village to traffic.

Haryana police personnel accompanied by Rapid Action Force swooped on the protest venue and chased away 100-odd protesters present there. The policemen removed the tents and levelled a mud platform which was being used by the four men on fast.

Hundreds of policemen were stationed on the rail track after the protesters were sent packing.

Interestingly, leaders of the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti had in a late-night development decided to accept the agreement reached between khap panchayat leaders and the government on ending the stir. The leaders met at Mayyar around 11.30 pm yesterday and decided to announce suspension of the stir at 11am today. Even samiti chief Yashpal Malik had called up newspersons here late last night to convey that the samiti would accept the khap leaders’ directive.

Suresh Koth, a representative of the khaps, said the police action would aggravate the crisis.

Fatehabad, March 6
Tension has gripped Gajuwala village in Fatehabad after at least 20 villagers and more than a dozen police personnel were injured in a clash between the police and members of the Jat community staging a dharna on the railway track today.

The injured police personnel include a DSP and at least six women from Gajuwala.

In an early morning swoop, a strong police force today forcibly removed the Jat agitators, who had been sitting on dharna on the railway track since Monday.

However, the villagers regrouped after the police action and launched a retaliatory attack on the police with lathis, ‘jelis’ and stones when a passenger train passed from the track at about 10.30 am.

The police responded by bursting teargas shells and using mild force against the agitators. It has taken 23 villagers into custody.

A strong police force, which include five companies of the CRPF and the ITBP, have been standing guard near the railway track while hundreds of villagers have assembled near the village school leading to a face-off.

Senior officers of the police and the district administration, including DIG (Crime) Paramjit Singh Ahlawat, Deputy Commissioner ML Kaushik, SP Satinder Kumar Gupta and Mohinder Singh, a Commandant of the Railway Protection Force, have been camping near the railway track.

In their efforts to defuse the situation, the authorities have roped in Sube Singh Samain, a spokesperson of the khaps, who was part of the delegation that met the Chief Minister recently.

Samain had yesterday announced that the khaps had dissociated themseves from the Jat stir after they reached an agreement with the government. Samain was holding meetings with the villagers when this report was filed.

Chandigarh, March 6
Ruling party MLAs belonging to Rohtak district today put up a spirited defence in the Haryana Assembly against the INLD criticism of the government that all development was taking place only in that area.

The issue cropped up when Bharat Bhushan Batra (Cong) was participating in the debate on the Budget. As he highlighted various schemes launched by the Hooda government in his constituency of Rohtak, INLD MLAs alleged that the government was developing Rohtak at the cost of other areas.

Batra was joined by Anand Singh Dangi to refute the allegation. They said Rohtak had been ignored by successive governments for the past several years because their leaders belonged to Bhiwani, Sirsa or Hisar. They said what was wrong if Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was trying to undo the unjustice done to Rohtak.

In an obvious reference to the Chautala family, Dangi said when certain leaders were in political oblivion, it was Rohtak, which adopted them and took them to the post of Deputy Prime Minister. Even those leaders ignored the area.

Batra said when Rohtak was ravaged by fierce floods in 1995, no relief was provided to the town. When the INLD members pointed out that at that time the Congress was in power, Batra retorted that it was the misfortune of Rohtak that no government gave it its due in the first 40 years of the state’s existence.

Earlier, initiating the debate, Sampat Singh (Cong) said all indicators of the Budget were healthy. He suggested that a commission should be set up for generation of additional revenue for urban local bodies.

Leader of the Opposition Om Prakash Chautala said the Budget had disappointed all sections of society as it had not provided any relief to them. He was apprehensive that though the Budget was tax-free, the government would impose new taxes later in the year as it had done last year when VAT rates were hiked.

Criticising the government for putting a huge debt burden on the state, Chautala regretted that most of the money allocated to various sectors would be eaten up by administrative expenses.

He also accused the government of providing security on state expense to undeserving people not only in Haryana but also in Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Krishan Pal Gurjar (BJP) said the revenue deficit might be decreasing but the debt liability and revenue expenditure were increasing. He also questioned the projected revenue receipts. The debate was inconclusive.