A day after police allegedly opened fire here to grab the body of a girl crushed under the wheels of an Akali leader’s bus, the situation remained peaceful in Channu village of Muktsar district on Sunday as the victim’s family reached a compromise with the bus operators after they were allegedly paid a compensation of Rs 10 lakh.
However, Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, co-owner of the New Deep bus company, had denied giving any compensation to the affected family.
On Saturday night, the police allegedly opened fire to grab the body of a girl. Worst, the police dragged the body from the accident spot to a vehicle, leaving a 200-metre blood trail on the road.
Resistance from the protesters, including the victim’s family, had no effect. “The victim’s family was among 150 villagers protesting peacefully on the road when a heavy police force swooped down on us around midnight,” said villager Gurjant Singh. “The police cut power supply to the area and attacked us with canes in the dark. Then they started firing in the air and took away what they came for,” said villager Gurmeet Singh, who is close to the affected family.
“The police grabbed the body from the victim’s grandfather Jarnail Singh, even as he hung on to it. They hit whoever resisted,” said Sukhmander Singh, an uncle of Arshdeep Kaur, who has his thumb injured.
The locals had lifted the protest by Saturday afternoon and the hurdles from the road were also removed, opening the Giddarbaha-Lambi road.
“Everything is fine as the family has reached upon a compromise and is satisfied. There is not any kind of protest in the village and situation is completely normal. The traffic on the road is normal as usually,” said Gurdeep Singh, a resident of the village.
Meanwhile, Bathinda deputy commissioner Basant Garg, who holds the additional charge of Muktsar DC, said the family’s case for financial help had been moved to the government, for any compensation it would deem fit under the policy.
A New Deep company bus co-owned by Hardeep Singh “Dimpy” Dhillon, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) halqa in-charge of Gidderbaha, had run Class-8 girl Arshdeep Kaur (13) over on Friday evening. Dhillon is a confidant of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.
