13 injured in fight between SGPC members, Bilaspur residents

Lovleen Bains

Doraha, June 25

Thirteen persons on either side are reported to be injured in a bloody fight which ensued between SGPC members and residents of Bilaspur village this morning. The injured were admitted to the Payal Civil Hospital, of which five have been referred to Ludhiana. All are reported to be out of danger as per official sources. An FIR in this regard has been registered at Doraha police station.

According to Bilaspur residents, as many as 70 SGPC members entered the village early this morning with three tractors and began ploughing a plot of land. This land, according to the residents, belongs to the mahants of the village. As the latter tried to resist, they were attacked by SGPC members with kirpans. A total of 13 people were reportedly injured, eight of the SGPC and six of the mahants’ families.

As per the statement given by the family members of the mahants of the village who claim 21 acres of ‘disputed land’, the land was gifted to their ancestor Kesar Das by the erstwhile Maharaja Sahib Singh 200 years back. “The SGPC claims the land belongs to them. As we tried to stop the SGPC members from entering our fields, they attacked us with kirpans. We had sought the intervention of the administration in this regard and the latter had marked July 3 as the date on which both parties shall be heard. But the SGPC members, rather than waiting for the assigned date, tried to take over the possession of the land illegally and in a highly objectionable manner,” said the mahants.

Additional secretary of SGPC Vijay Singh, on the other hand, said the court has given the verdict in their favour and that the land belongs to the SGPC. “It is on our own land that we tried to plough with tractors today but were astonished to find a group of drunkards of the village along with women attacking our members. We have already won the case and no one can stop us from assuming ownership of the land,” he added.

Payal DSP Nikhil Garg said, “A total of 13 persons including Vijay Singh and Nirvair Singh, manager, Gurdwara Manji Sahib Kottan, from the side of SGPC and Karamjeet Singh, Karanveer, Kirandeep, Mandeep and Sandeep from the side of the mahants were injured and have been admitted to the Payal Civil Hospital. Five of them have been referred to Ludhiana but are out of danger. We have received six MLRs (Medical Legal Report) from Gurjit Das, Mandeep Das, Kirandeep Singh, Karanveer Singh and Sandeep Kaur of the mahants’ families and eight MLRs from Vijay Singh, Kehar Singh, Harinderpal Singh, Nirmaljeet Singh, Balwinder Singh, Jaikara Singh, Amardeep Singh and Sandeep Singh from the side of the SGPC. The case is being registered on the basis of these MLRs at Doraha police station. The property case is, however, still under trial in the High Court.”

Ludhiana DC Sakshi Sawhney when contacted said no one from either party met her in this regard.

SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami on the other hand condemned the attack on SGPC members and said it is a sorry state of affairs and lawlessness was writ large on the faces of the attackers.