Cattle shed ‘set afire’, no FIR yet

Sangrur, November 24

More than 24 hours after a group of unidentified persons set the cattle shed of a Dalit on fire in Kasba Bharal village, the Sandhaur police are yet to register an FIR.

Gurmale Singh, owner of the shed, has been admitted to the Malerkotla civil hospital while police officers said they were conducting investigations as a member of the opposite party was also under treatment.

As per Gurmale, he had constructed his cattle shed on the village panchayat land and had been using it for the past 15 years. However, some upper caste people allegedly wanted to encroach upon the panchayat land and the matter was pending in court.

“On Monday, around 20 persons set my shed on fire. When I reached there, they pushed me into the flames and fled. My nephew saved me and got me admitted here. The cops are not taking any action and have not even visited the crime spot yet,” Gurmale alleged. Zora Singh, president of the Bahujan Samaj Trade Association, Punjab, alleged that the police had been pressurising Gurmale for a compromise.

Meanwhile, a video of some persons setting the cattle shed on fire has gone viral on social media.

Sandhaur SHO Kulwant Singh confirmed that Jaswinder Kaur, wife of Gurmale Singh, had submitted a complaint in this regard on Monday. “The matter is under investigation as the other party has alleged that Gurmale and others also attacked them and their member Karminder Singh was admitted to the hospital,” he added. — TNS

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