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2 Sikh villagers die as SGPC
task force opens fire
WSN Network
DERA BABA NANAK
(BATALA): Two persons were killed and at least 10, including a
woman, injured when members of the SGPC "task force" opened fire at
apparently unarmed residents of Khanna Chamara village to take over
control of 18 acres of land. Trouble started around
11 am, when
representatives of the SGPC accompanied by armed task force men
reached the village and tried to gain control of the land, which has
been in possession of village sarpanch Baljeet Singh for the past 40
years.
When Baljeet
Singh, along with members of his family and other residents,
attempted to resist the intrusion, members of the task force opened
direct fire at the villagers. The firing continued till the last of
the protesters had fled the spot.
The assault
killed one Kashmir Singh on the spot, while Balwinder Singh, who was
fatally wounded, died on the way to hospital. Ten other persons,
including one woman, were injured, who were referred to an
Amritsar
hospital.
People present
on the spot alleged employees of the task force opened fire at the
empty handed villagers on orders from some of the managers of nearby
SGPC-run gurdwaras. The injured were identified as Baljeet Singh,
his mother Surjeet Kaur, Charan Singh, Prem Masih, Natha Singh,
Gurnam Singh, Ranjit Singh, Pala Singh, Hardeep Singh and Lakha
Singh. Even as the initial clash, followed by the firing, lasted
over two and a half hours, no one from the Dera Baba Nanak police
intervened.
By the time
Batala SSP Dinesh Pratap Singh and Fatehgarh Churian DSP Mohan Lal
reached the spot with a police contingent, the attackers had fled.
It is learnt the SGPC owns 644 acre of land in Khanna Chamara. But
18 acre of this has been in the possession of Akali sarpanch of the
village Baljeet Singh for the past 40 years. For the past few
months, representatives of the SGPC had been trying to gain control
of this disputed land, regarding which a court case is pending.
4
November 2009
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