Arson in Punjab after killing of a sect leader in Vienna

Jalandhar/Chandigarh, May 25 (PTI) One person was Monday
killed and several injured as largescale violence hit India's
northern state of Punjab and parts of neighbouring Haryana
following the killing of a Jalandhar-based sect leader in
Vienna, prompting authorities to impose curfew in four cities
and call out the army in three of them.

Nearly 1,000 personnel of the army were deployed in
worst-affected Jalandhar, Phagwara and Hoshiarpur where curfew
was imposed by the authorities in addition to Ludhiana to
check the arson which resulted in largescale damage to public
and private property, including parked buses, police said.

One person was killed and four others were injured as
army personnel opened fire at Lambra village, 30 km from
Jalandhar city to quell the protestors, they said. Another
person was seriously injured when police opened fire on
arsonists at Jalandhar cantonment railway station. Earlier,
the number of person killed had been put at two.

Police also opened fire in Phillaur, 50 kms from
Jalandhar, to disperse a mob that attacked their contingent.
Over 30 people, including about 18 policemen, were injured in
the brickbatting by the protestors at several places of the
state.

Describing the violence as a "sudden phenomenon", Punjab
DGP K K Attri said it took time for the authorities to
gear up the system to contain the violence by the followers
head of Dera Sacha Khand, Sant Ram Nand, who died in Vienna
after being shot at in an assault by members of a rival group.

In an appeal for calm, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
said he had been deeply distressed by the outbreak of violence
in Punjab. "Whatever the provocation, it is important to
maintaining peace and harmony among different sections of the
people," he said.

Home Minister P Chidambaram termed the situation in
Punjab as "not quite normal" and asked the state government to
enforce curfew strictly in the affected areas. The Centre has
also responded to the state's request for additional companies
of para-military forces by sending 2,500 personnel and a
helicopter, he told reporters here.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, while
appealing for calm, asked people not to get provoked by
elements spreading unrest.

Four bogies of Jammu-Kanyakumari express were set on fire
at Jalandhar by the protesters after asking passengers to
alight from the train, officials said here, adding that an
engine and four bogies of a train were also damaged in
Phagwara by the arsonists, who claimed to be followers of Guru
Ravi Dass.

Besides Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Pharwara and Ludhiana,
reports of violent protests were received from various places
including Bathinda, Amritsar, Moga, Banga and Nawanshar in
Punjab and at Ambala and Tohana in Haryana.

Protestors blocked the Chandigarh Hisar road at Kainchi
Chowk at Tohana in Hisar district for an hour. The blockade
was lifted after they submitted a memorandum to the sub-
divisional magistrate seeking the arrest of the killers
of the sect's chief.

Even as the authorities claimed that the situation was
"under control", curfew was clamped in Jalandhar, Phagwara,
Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana.

The DGP said at total of 13 columns (with each column
having about 75 men) were deployed--7 in Jalandhar, 4 in
Phagwara and 2 in Hoshiarpur.

The rail and road traffic in the state remained badly
affected in the wake of largescale widespread violence and the
protesters, mostly dalits, set on fire the engine of Sonepur-
Jammu Express in Phagwara despite curfew being imposed,
officials said.

At some places in Phagwara, the protesters ransacked
public and private property and also blocked the national
highway and damaged about a dozen vehicles.

The railway authorities suspended several trains bound
for Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir as a precautionary
measure.

The Delhi-Lahore Samjhauta Express was halted at Ludhiana
following the violence and later diverted via Moga.

As the violence broke out in Jalandhar, contingents of
the BSF was summoned at nearby Phagwara to control the
situation, officials said here.

The curfew in Jalandhar district has been extended for an
indefinite period, Deputy Commissioner A S Pannu said. Unit
from the Army have been put on strategic points in the city
and its neighbouring areas, he said.

Protesters defying the curfew came out at several places,
including Butan Mandi, Nakodar Chowk and Workshop Chowk, all
in Jalandhar, police said, adding that a police post was
also burnt by the agitators.

In Ambala, a bus was partly burnt and window panes of
three buses were smashed. The protesters also blocked the
Ambala-Jagadhari road. PTI TEAM
PMR