Mischief suspected over fire incident

Four roadside migrant vendors at Khusropur village have alleged that their empty crates, water coolers and bill books which were lying by the roadside had been set on fire as part of mischief on Saturday morning.

BJP leader Ashok Sareen Hikky highlighted their matter and said that it could be a deliberate attempt on the part of some miscreants to create panic among the migrants and force them to shut down work here and leave for their native places. A few incidents of growing opposition against the migrants are being reported across the state, especially after the murder

of a boy in Hoshiarpur and

an alleged attempt of sexual assault against a minor girl in a Jalandhar locality in the recent past.

Pushpinder, who along with his father and two other migrants, were running roadside stalls at Khusropur, said that their stalls were allegedly set on fire at 2:40 am in the wee hours of Saturday. They said that by the time they reached, one stall had been saved while the other three had been torched. They alleged that their tarpaulin sheets, empty crates, bill books, diaries, water coolers, chairs and other items that they used to leave daily at the site had been set on fire by some miscreants. They alleged that they had been complaining to the police for the past two days but to no avail.

ACP, Jalandhar Cantt, Babandeep Singh said, “We are investigating the matter. It could be a case of short-circuit from wires as mainly the tarpaulin sheets got engulfed in flames. But we do not rule out the possibility of mischief. We have been checking CCTV cameras from the vicinity of the spot but have so far not zeroed in on to any unscrupulous people passing by at that time.”

Meanwhile, Hikky also alleged that another incident of setting a shop on fire had emerged from Sansarpur village of Jalandhar Cantonment. Shivani, a widow and mother of two teenage kids, had been running a shop of cosmetics which was set on fire a day ago. He, however, said that this case was not related to migrants as Shivani is a Punjabi woman.