Gripped parts of Punjab while curfew was clamped in Gurdaspur city following the death of a Sikh youth Jaspal Singh, reportedly in a police firing.
A day after the president deferred hanging of former chief minister Beant Singh’s assassin Balwant Singh, tension gripped parts of Punjab while curfew was clamped in Gurdaspur city following the death of a Sikh youth Jaspal Singh, reportedly in a police firing.
The police opened fire following a clash between two groups during the bandh. A call for the bandh had been given by the Shiv Sena activists to protest the president’s order on Balwant Singh. While the Shiv Sena activists were forcing shopkeepers to down the shutters, they were opposed by a group of Sikh radicals following which a violent clash took place. As the police intervened, one youth died in firing and another was seriously injured.
While the district administration clamped curfew in the city, it has not confirmed whether Jaspal died of police firing. Additional director general (Law and Order) SK Sharma rushed to the spot for an investigation, as tension spread in many parts of the state. Companies of paramilitary forces were rushed to the troubled city, while police patrol in nearby areas was intensified following reports of simmering tension among the radical groups.
In Amritsar and Patiala where the Shiv Sena activists tried to force bandh, they were dispersed by the police. In Amritsar their attempt to burn an effigy of Balwant Singh was foiled.
Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal held a meeting with DGP Sumedh Saini to assess the situation even as the district police chiefs had been asked to make preventive arrests to avoid any untoward incident.
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