Farmer’s death: Youth Congress threatens gherao of Punjab CM’s residence

Patiala, February 23

Hundreds of workers of the Punjab Youth Congress today held a dharna in front of the mini-secretariat here and threatened that they would lay siege to the residence of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and all district administrative complexes “if no FIR is registered against the Haryana administration” within two days.

After addressing the youth workers, who had gathered in Patiala from across the state, president Mohit Mohindra submitted a memorandum to SDM Arvind Kumar.

Earlier today the Youth Congress workers in the day, the workers raised slogans against the Patiala administration blaming it for laxity in the recent incidents of farmer agitation at Shambhu.

Mohindra said if the officers had acted promptly on the request submitted to them on February 15, Shubhkaran would be alive. “Why the DC didn’t file a criminal case against the DC Ambala for the Haryana security forces intruding into our territory and using teargas, rubber pellets and bullets on the farmers who were in the Punjab territory at Shambhu border. This clearly shows the inexperience attitude of the government officials,” he alleged.

He said, “We wrote a letter to the Patiala DC on February 15 but nothing was done.”

Lashing out at the Punjab Government, Mohit said that role of the government was also under the scanner. “While they are asking the officials to stop the JCB machines from reach the borders, the protesters are being brutally charged by the Haryana security forces. We have reports that a few farmers are missing and there is strong apprehension that the security forces of Haryana forcibly took them along,” he claimed.

Mohit said the Punjab Youth Congress was organising a camp at the site of farmers’ agitation and providing them with free ambulance service and medicines.