Curfew relaxed in Punjab; violence affects Haryana

Chandigarh, May 26 (PTI) Curfew was Tuesday relaxed in
four violence-hit cities of northern Indian state of Punjab,
which remained by and large peaceful barring a town in
Mukhtsar district where protestors clashed with police, even
as in neighbouring Haryana some areas were affected by
disturbances killing of a sect leader in Vienna.

Curfew was eased in Hoshiarpur, Phargwara and Jalandhar,
the hub of Dera Sachkhand whose followers had indulged in
largescale violence Monday after the attack on its leaders
in Vienna, official sources said.

In Ludhiana, curfew was relaxed in five sensitive police
station areas while it was lifted in rest of the district
following improvement in the situation, they said.

Curfew was imposed in Malout town in Mukhtsar district
after protestors pelted stones on the police and damaged the
vehicle of the Additional Deputy Commissioner following which
police used canes and later fired, injuring one person.

In Sangrur, a bus was damaged when agitators set it
ablaze after asking passengers to alight.

A protestor was killed late last night when a Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD) councillor fired in "self-defence" in
Jalandhar after his car was attacked and set on fire, they
said. With this, the death toll in the violence in Punjab rose
to three. Army and police patrolled the violence-hit area to
maintain calm.

In Haryana, protestors clashed with police near parade
ground on Ambala-Jagadhri road and damaged a building of the
Municipal Committee in Jagadhri town in Yamunanagar district.

Police fired eight rounds in the air to disperse a mob in
Jagadhri, where protestors also damaged a government senior
second school building besides eight cars belonging to the
school staff and motorcycles.

Officials said that the situation in Punjab was tense but
under control.

Dera Sachkhand leader Niranjan Dass, who was injured
in the attack in Vienna, is out of danger, sect leader Sant
Surinder Dass Bawa said in Jalandhar.

Officials said buses were not plying as usual in
Punjab and most of the train services remained curtailed. The
first train that passed through Ludhiana this morning was
Guwahati-Jammu Himgiri express.

However, roads, which had been blocked by protestors
by setting up barricades, have been cleared for traffic,
officials said, adding people were not venturing out due to
fear.

In Chandigarh, an all-party meeting convened by Chief
Minister Parkash Singh Badal was held which strongly condemned
the attack on Dera leaders in Vienna on Sunday.

Cutting across party lines, major political parties,
including ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP combine and the
main opposition Congress passed a unanimous resolution seeking
stringent punishment for those responsible for the crime

Badal told reporters after the meeting that the
situation in Punjab is "normal" and the administration's
response to outbreak of arson and violence was "quick". "The
Punjab Government has managed to control the situation," the
Chief Minister said.

The violence was apparently the outcome of the
underlying resentment between followers of Dera Sachkhand, a
Sikh sect comprising mainly of Dalits, and upper caste Sikhs.

In Haryana, followers of Dera Sachkhand Ballan and
some Dalit organisations took out processions and also
indulged in vandalism in Jagadhari, Naraingarh and Mullana.

The administration ordered closure of all schools in
Ambala district as a precautionary measure.

The protesters also damaged a police booth, six cars and
a truck in Naraingarh, officials said.

Three trains bound for Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir were
terminated at Ambala junction. These included Dadar-Amritsar
express, Mumbai-Amritsar Deluxe and Shaheed Express.

Three other trains--Amritsar-Nanded Sachkhand Express,
Amritsar Jansewa Express and Meerut-Ludhiana Superfast-- were
cancelled as a precautionary measure by the railways.

Reports reaching here said a complete bandh was observed
in Kapurthala, Moga and several other parts of Punjab.

In Karnal in Haryana, more than 500 followers including
some women of Ramdasia sect took out a procession in the main
bazars of the town. PTI Team
RKM
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