Balachaur, October 13
Hundreds of passengers on board buses and other private vehicles were allegedly subjected to harassment by officials of the Excise and Taxation Department, Punjab, and accompanying Punjab police officials who had put up a joint “special naka” on the Chandigarh-Amritsar road, near Balachaur, on a “specific information” in the wee hours today.
The officials, who were allegedly in a drunken state, put the vehicular traffic on a hold resulting in long queues on the road and forced the passengers, including women, to open their baggage for “special checking”, causing inconvenience to them, particularly those who were travelling with their families.
A number of tourists and passengers, two of whom rang up this correspondent, alleged that the officials did not listen to any of their pleas and went on to search their luggage forcibly “in their enthusiasm to perform their duty”. “They did not bother about our crying children, who were getting restless over the delay and the rash manner in which they were searching even our personal luggage.
Similarly, Mr Anurag Sood, a Hoshiarpur-based farmer, alleged that he was made to stop at the “naka” by the officials. “At first they ordered me to alight from my vehicle. When I resisted a bit they pulled me out from my vehicle forcibly and searched the vehicle thoroughly. Even when they did not find anything objectionable, they did not allow me to move for about half an hour,” said Mr Sood.
Mr Satish Billa, a resident of Tanda Urmur who was travelling in his car, alleged that the “naka” officials stopped the vehicle and searched him without revealing their identity. “When I asked two officials in civil clothes, who were searching my car about their identity, they directed me to a person standing nearby. He was in a drunken state and introduced himself as Excise Inspector Surinder Pal Singh,” said Mr Billa, who alleged that Bachittar Singh of the Punjab police addressed him in an abusive language.
When this correspondent reached the spot after getting information about the incident, the “naka” officials refused to identify themselves and asked him to talk to a person standing in the middle of the road, who later identified himself as Excise Inspector Surinder Pal Singh. He maintained that the “special naka” was laid on a specific tip-off from the “top”.
Interestingly, when quizzed about the alleged inconvenience caused to commuters on account of the behaviour of the “naka” officials, an apparently drunk Surinder Pal Singh tried to evade the querry by retorting,” I know so many people in the media at Hoshiarpur, so ask them if you want to know anything about me.”
When contacted a Chandigarh-based senior Excise Department official said he was not aware about any such “special naka”. Mr Tulsi Ram, SSP, Nawanshahr, said he had received complaints about the incident and assured that he would look into the matter.
