Several injured as two Akali factions clash at Maur
Saturday, 28/02/2015
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=125725&boxid=57421&uid=&dat=2015-02-28
Bathinda : At least nine persons were injured in a clash that took place between two factions of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) at Maur Khurd in Bathinda district on Friday.
In the violence one faction opened fire and later Police too resorted to fire in the air to control the situation.
The clash ensued in the morning when a group led by a recently won SAD councilor Balbir Kaur from ward number 7 visited Maur Khurd that also falls within the Maur municipal council (MC) to thank the voters and it came across the former SAD councilor Nirmal Singh whose wife Manjit Kaur lost as an independent candidate from the same ward with a gap of mere 12 votes.
Nirmal alleged that the victorious group attacked them all of a sudden in the morning at about 8 am without any provocation. He further alleged that at first the Balbir group opened fire at them and later police too opened fire in air.
On the other hand, Atma Singh husband of the SAD councilor claimed that they were in the locality just to thank the voters but the defeated faction all of a sudden attacked them by pelting stones and sharp edged weapons. Four persons from Bablbir group including Sukhpreet Singh, Ishwar Singh, Gajjan Singh and Atma Singh sustained injuries. Once the situation was brought under control they were brought to Bathinda civil hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, Nirmal group’s five members, namely Mewa Singh and his wife Kiranjit Kaur, Sanjeev Sharma, Raj Kaur and Kala Singh also admitted to Maur Civil Hospital having sustained multiple injuries. Speaking to media persons, Bathinda SSP Inder Mohan Singh Bhatti claimed that there no report of firing by any of the groups and he maintained that cops resorted to open fire in air to disperse the violent mob.
He added that police were in the process of registering case in this connection based on statements by both the groups. Meanwhile, the PWD Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon who represents Maur assembly constituency, when contacted, admitted that he was aware of the incident but on the same hand he also clarified that Nirmal Singh was not a member of Shiromani Akali Dal as he had turned rebel some time ago.
