Cops attacked, 8 arrested

Mohali, June 10

Eight persons were arrested and around 40 booked for pelting a police team with stones and blocking the Chandigarh-Kharar highway after cops raided a Mundi Kharar area to nab suspects indulging in gambling and drug peddling this evening.

The highway near a petrol pump at Mundi Kharar had remained blocked for about 40 minutes around 7:30 pm as a group of people, mostly ragpickers and scrap dealers from a nearby locality, repulsed police action by hurling stones and then staging a protest on the road.

The police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protesters. A few private vehicles got damaged during stone-pelting, but no complaint was received, said the police.

The face-off erupted after the Sunny Enclave police post in-charge nabbed four suspects in a slum area. The local residents attacked the police party and freed one of the suspects. Women also protested the police action.

Kharar DSP Rupinderdeep Kaur said, “Eight suspects have been arrested and 30-40 booked.”

The Punjab Police today launched a crackdown against people indulging in illegal lottery business and gambling (dara-satta) across the state.