Four linemen held during CM’s address
Tuesday, 29/09/2015
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
CHHAPAR: Four protesting unemployed linemen were taken into custody on Monday for sneaking into the Chhapar Mela rally of the Akalis during the address of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.
A small group from Berozgar Linemen Union was raising slogans outside the venue when the police took away some members, who were released after the event. Manjit Singh Ladda from Dhuri, Lakhvir Singh, Labh Singh, and Jarnail Singh from Barnala — the four who were left — infiltrated the venue and waited for the CM to start his speech to disrupt it by raising slogans, but the Akali workers overpowered them quickly and thrashed them before cops took the linemen into custody.
“This shows the liberty the ruling party has given to its goons. The captured protesters should have been handed over to police,” said linemen union state president Pirmal Singh, adding: “As opposed to the 5,000 jobs promised in 2011, the Shiromani Akali Dal regime has hired only 1,001 of us, so far. Today on the birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, we appeal to the state government to honour his slogan for equal rights for all.”
