JAIPUR: Police lathicharged to disperse protesting Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists at Civil Lines Phatak, leaving 20 of them injured on Monday. Most of them were discharged from the hospital after first aid while three are undergoing treatment.
The incident happened in the afternoon when over 2,000 BJYM activists marched from BJP headquarters to the CM’s residence to demand CBI probe in REET paper leak case. BJP state president Satish Poonia was leading the march along with BJYM president Himanshu Sharma.
The protestors raising slogans and holding party flags were stopped at the Civil Lines Phatak by the police and were not allowed to cross the barricades. The situation took an ugly turn when the police used mild force to rush Poonia, Sharma and 30 others into the bus.
“The police misbehaved with our leaders while taking them to the bus. Still, we didn’t react and continued our protest. Suddenly the police started charging everyone with batons. It happened without any provocation from our side. While saving a woman protestor, I received a blow on my hand leading to an injury,” said Naveen Pilaniya, BJYM vice president. The traffic came to a grinding halt due to the commostion. It took the police a lot of effort to disperse the party workers, who even after the lathi charge stuck to the ground. BJP leaders were later released by the Jhotwara police. Poonia accused the police of brutally attacking the peaceful march without any provocation. He said, “The government cannot scare us by using force. The act of defiance will continue until they hand over the REET paper investigation to CBI.”
