Ravi Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, May 28. The protest rally organised by various Sikh organisations fizzled out because of the tight security apparatus put in place by the Gurdaspur police. Additional troops were requisitioned from nearby districts.
R S Brar, SSP, remained stationed at the Nabipur bypass, 3 km from here, and kept the protesters at bay. Denied an opportunity to enter the town, hundreds of them decided to stage a dharna at the bypass. Abhinav Trikha, DC, reached the site and tried to negotiate peace with the protesters even as they raised slogans against the CM the local MLA.
Jaspal Singh, an engineering student, had died in “police firing” on March 29 during a protest against the hanging of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted for assassinating the then CM Beant Singh. The victim’s family, backed by Sikh radicals, had given a call for today’s protest, demanding action against the “guilty” policemen.
The protest was led by Lakhwinder Singh of the Damdami Taksal. The former chief of the Panthic Committee, Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, and Damdami Taksal head Harnam Singh Dhuma were convinced by the police to stay away.
Zaffarwal said: “Nobody is coming forward to take the blame. The suspension of former SSP and the transfer of the then DC are a mere eyewash. The killers of the slain student are roaming freely.”
