Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
New Delhi: Two Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders and their driver were named in an FIR registered by police in Ferozepur, where a group of farmers accused them of attacking them with a car.
Among the sections that have been invoked in the case are attempt to murder, rash driving or riding on a public way of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the Arms Act.
According to Indian Express, those who have been named are SAD leader Vardev Singh Nonni Mann, who is the party’s candidate from the Guruharsahai constituency for the upcoming assembly polls in Punjab, his driver; Gurvinder Singh, who was driving the SUV; and former SAD Ferozepur Rural MLA Joginder Singh Jindu. However, no arrests have been made so far.
The FIR was registered after 32 farmers’ unions, under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), staged a dharna outside the senior superintendent of police (SSP)’s office on Thursday morning.
The farmers had claimed that the SUV had sped away while two farmer leaders were sitting on its bonnet and that some rounds were also fired. The incident happened when former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had arrived in Ferozepur for campaigning. She and SAD chief Sukhbir Badal had accused ‘Congress-backed goons’ of attacking their party leaders.
The FIR was registered on the complaint of Harnek Singh Mehma, the district president of BKU (Dakaunda), who was one of the persons sitting on the bonnet, according to Indian Express.
The newspaper reported that Mehma’s complaint said that 10-15 farmer leaders had gathered near the blind school in Ferozepur, where Harsimrat Kaur Badal had come. They had informed the police of their plan to question her, about SAD’s plan for the farmers and masses, and the police had given permission for 10-15 persons to arrive at the spot.
‘…but when we reached at the spot, Akalis were there in hundreds and they tried to overpower us. We waited till 4:30 pm, but when Harsimrat evaded our questions and left the venue, we stopped the SUV of Vardev Mann and to our surprise, they started driving the vehicle while I and Lovepreet Singh (another farmer from Karma village) were sitting on [the] bonnet. They had to stop the vehicle near Dev Samaj College due to traffic congestion and hence our lives were saved. They almost made it another Lakhimpur-like incident,’ the complaint says.
According to Indian Express, SAD workers themselves attacked the SUV and damaged it and later ‘concocted a false story’. Mehma claimed that while he was on the bonnet, three rounds were fired by Nonni Mann and another four by his gunman. ‘However, we were saved due to sheer luck,’ he said.
The SAD did not file any written complaint with the Ferozepur police as of Thursday, the newspaper said.
Kaur Badal’s programmes cancelled
In a related development, Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s scheduled visits to Mansa city, Jhunir, Bhikhi areas of Mansa district on Thursday were cancelled amid protests by farmer unions. The unions gathered at these spots well in advance to oppose her visit, forcing the former Union minister to cancel her programmes.
Manjit Singh Dhaner, the senior vice president of BKU (Dakaunda), told Indian Express that the farmers’ unions have decided to continue to boycott politicians in villages. ‘But after Wednesday’s incident, we will oppose Akali Dal’s programmes and will not allow their leaders to enter villages till the arrests are not made,’ he said.
(With PTI inputs)
