5 more buses attacked, Himachal may revisit 600 Punjab routes

Hours after five Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses were vandalised in Amritsar, Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said on Saturday that the state may need to reconsider operations on 600 bus routes through Punjab.

Agnihotri, who also holds the transport portfolio, made a suo motu statement in the Vidhan Sabha and said the five buses were damaged at the Amritsar bus stand’s parking lot last night.

“In view of the fresh attacks, the government will have to take a decision on plying the HRTC buses on 600 routes through Punjab. The windshields of the buses were smashed and miscreants wrote pro-Khalistan slogans on them. A few buses were earlier targeted in Mohali’s Kharar. This is a matter of grave concern,” he said.

Agnihotri said the government had taken up the matter with the Punjab Chief Minister and the DGP. “We have got an FIR registered and two persons were arrested on Friday.”

Meanwhile, the Amritsar police said nobody was present inside the buses when the incident took place. They said an investigation in the matter was underway.

These incidents came close on the heels of a row which had erupted after a few locals in Himachal Pradesh removed flags bearing the image of slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from the bikes of a group of youths from Punjab.

To vent their anger, Dal Khalsa and Sikh Youth of Punjab activists pasted the image of Bhindranwale on HRTC buses as well as some private vehicles in Hoshiarpur.