Police search Khalsa’s house, shift him to Ludhiana hospital

Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 20

The city police today conducted a raid at the house of  Sikh leader Surat Singh Khalsa at Hassanpur village and arrested Sukhjit Singh Khosa of Satkar Committee and his supporters. Khalsa was rushed to civil hospital and put under the observation of doctors.

(Also read: Two Sikh leaders released; activist ups his ante, refuses water)

Acting Senior Medical Officer Taswinder Goyal said the condition of Khalsa was stable. He said the fasting Sikh activist had refused to give his blood sample. Khosa area and its surroundings have been cleared of his supporters and Khalsa is being provided medical treatment, Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said. At the civil hospital Khalsa’s supporters raised slogans against the Punjab government.

SMO Goel said Khalsa had been kept under the observation of a cardiologist. The police raid, supervised by DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, was conducted around 3.30 pm when Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal, ADC Kuldeep Singh and SSP Jagraon Ravcharan Brar were speaking to Khalsa and trying to persuade him to take medical treatment. Police personnel surrounded the house and caught Khosa and his supporters off guard.

The police said Khosa and his men had manhandled a police officer which led to the police action. A case has been registered against Khosa and his men for assault.  A police officer from Jalandhar, who was part of the raiding party, said Khosa and his men had hijacked the peaceful protest and were spreading panic.

"Khosa and his men were eagerly waiting for Khalsa's death so that they could play politics over it," said the official from Jalandhar. Villagers are divided over Khalsa's protest.

While a group of villagers led by village Sarpanch Manjinder Kaur demanded shifting of Khalsa's protest site due to the sudden influx of radicals, another group was in favour of Khalsa and blamed the police for creating a curfew-like situation and spreading panic.

Pritpal Singh, Lakhbir Singh and Joginder Singh along with several other residents of Hassanpur village said that policemen were not allowing native villagers to enter the village without showing identity card.

"This was as if we are living in a prison. We could not go to the field to water crops. Our relatives are not being allowed to enter the village," said the group of residents.

Meanwhile, Khalsa's son Ravinderpal Singh Goggi has blamed CM Parkash Singh Badal for fuelling the protest in order to consolidate their vote bank. "We know that we are being used for vote bank politics. Badal is deliberately fuelling the controversy around my father's protest for cheap political gains. We are being projected in a wrong light.