Jagraon SDM seeks report into Swaddi Kalan village incident

Mahesh Sharma

Jagraon, June 13

Acrimony among locals and migrant workers is not coming to an end in the region, with the panchayat of Sawaddi Kalan village now giving an ultimatum to all migrant families to leave their village.

The ultimatum came after two migrant workers entered into a scuffle with a Sikh youth on Sunday night and his turban fell in the incident.

Similar incidents had taken place at Sadhar Market and Tharike village in Ludhiana district earlier.

Taking a serious notice of the sequence of events, Jagraon SDM Manjit Kaur has sought a detailed report on the issue from the BDPO and advised the police officials concerned to act according to the law of the land.

Sawaddi Kalan gram panchayat led by Sarpanch Lal Singh resolved unanimously on Monday that all migrants staying in the village should leave the locality within two days.

According to Sarpanch Lal Singh, the villagers had taken a decision to ask all migrants to leave as two migrant youths had dared to enter into a scuffle with a local youth Jatinder Singh Neeta when he (Neeta) was returning home from Ludhiana late on Sunday night. “Villagers got upset on learning that two migrant youths living as tenants at the house of local resident Rinku scuffled with Neeta when he honked to seek passage for his vehicle,” said Lal Singh, alleging that the duo dared to toss Neeta’s turban.

Though the matter seemed to have subsided after some villagers admonished the migrant duo later in the night after the incident, some villagers impressed upon the panchayat to call a meeting and make the decision to ask all migrants to leave the village.

Responding to a question by The Tribune, SDM Manjit Kaur said, “We have already asked the concerned Block Development and Panchayat Officer to conduct an inquiry into the sequence of events and submit a report as soon as possible. We have also asked the DSP concerned not to allow anyone to take the law into one’s hands and take action according to law.”

A fortnight ago, the Raikot sub-division police had to handle an ugly situation tactfully after an incident in which two migrant vegetable vendors had scuffled with an ex-serviceman at Abuwal Road Chowk at Sadhar village on the Mullanpur-Barnala highway.

The Ludhiana Sadar Police had to register an FIR under Section 295-A against a migrant vendor who had brawl with a turbaned resident of Jhande village at Tharike Vends Market in the third week of May. To arrest the accused appears to be a herculean task for the police as he has already fled.

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