Family of members of Ranjit Singh, 19, who was allegedly killed in a police encounter a few days ago, and several organisations, including farm unions and religious entities, blocked the Pathankot-Amritsar National Highway (NH) on Sunday, leaving thousands of commuters stranded for five hours.
Ranjit is one of the three accused of killing ASI Gurnam Singh and Home Guard jawan Ashok Kumar at the Adhian joint check post of the Punjab Police and BSF, 500 metres from the International Border (IB), creating a national furore.
The protest, held near Babri village, lasted three hours. The traffic police had a hard time in clearing the traffic and even after two hours after the protest had ended, jams could still be witnessed on the Gurdaspur-Batala and the Pathankot-Gurdaspur roads.
Passengers had a difficult time reaching the airport. They were forced to take village link roads to reach their destinations. A couple of families, bound for New Delhi, missed their flights.
Amar Kranti, a spokesman of the Punjab Students Union, claimed nearly 500 people had joined the protest. “We had absolutely no intention of disrupting the traffic. The police and the civil administration were informed of our plans two days in advance. It was their duty to make alternative traffic arrangements,” he said.
The demonstrators removed the police blockades in the morning and placed carpets in their place. The protestors placed these carpets in such a way that they blocked the entire width of the NH.
The police refused to book the commuters despite the fact that blocking a national highway is a punishable offence under the National Highway Act, 1956. “Even the Supreme court has ruled that public roads cannot be blocked and the right to protest does not include the right to block public spaces,” said Shelly Grewal, a passenger traveling to the airport.
Hold central probe: Cong
Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and MLAs Aruna Chaudhary have written to Punjab Governor seeking a probe by either the NIA or the CBI “so that the truth is pursued without fear or favour and in a manner that restores public confidence.” They added that “given the national security overtones and the possibility of the coss-border link, a central agency takeover of the probe is necessary”