Cops canecharge teachers near minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer's Barnala house

Barnala, September 19

The police allegedly canecharged protesting members of the 1158 Assistant Professor and Librarian Front, Punjab, after they broke the second barricade put up near the residence of Cabinet Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer. The protesters alleged police officers abused women.

“The High Court had quashed our selection in August. Since then, we have been trying to meet the CM to convince him to challenge the quashing, but no one is paying heed to our demand. Today, the police hit us with sticks,” said Karamjit Singh, convener of the front.

The protesters initially remained peaceful, but after they failed to secure a meeting with the CM, they started the protest march towards Meet Hayer’s residence.

“When we broke the second barricade, the police started hitting us with sticks. They did not even spare physically challenged protesters. We had come to arrange a meeting and not to clash with them,” said a woman protester.

Barnala DSP Satvir Singh denied the allegations that the protesters were lathicharged. “We were finalising the meeting time when the protesters broke the second barricade. Our teams only prevented them from proceeding towards the minister’s residence and did not use sticks,” he said.