Ludhiana, Dec 4 (Inditop.com) Curfew was imposed in parts of this Punjab city Friday after hundreds of migrants went on the rampage in the morning, burning vehicles and blocking a national highway and railway tracks to protest police inaction against a gang of bikers looting them for the past few months.
Tension continued to prevail in the affected areas, where most of the migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh live and work, till Friday evening.
Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) P.S. Gill, however, said in the evening that road and railway traffic in the affected area had been restored and that the authorities were in full control of the situation.
“We rushed senior officers to the spot. Police reinforcements were brought in from neighbouring districts to control the situation. We have sought two battalions of central forces from the union government,” Gill told reporters in state headquarters Chandigarh, 110 km from here.
Curfew was imposed in five areas of Ludhiana – division no. 6 and 7, Simlapuri, Focal point and Sahnewal – following the violence.
Hundreds of migrants started the protest on NH-1 Friday morning following another incident of looting Thursday night.
Some migrants had gone to the area police station to get a case registered but the police reportedly did not take action. This angered the migrants.
The mob of angry migrants then set ablaze several vehicles, including two buses, trucks, cars and scooters, near the industrial focal point area of Punjab’s biggest city. Eyewitnesses said at least 25 vehicles were set on fire. The first lot of vehicles, including trucks, were set ablaze late Thursday night.
Gill said that 23 vehicles, including nine of Punjab police, were set on fire by the mob.
He said that a total of 15 people, all of them policemen, were injured in violence that lasted over three hours Friday morning.
The Ludhiana-Delhi National Highway No.1 (NH-1) stretch between Sherpur area here and Sahnewal town was blocked due to the violence. The busy stretch of the highway saw huge traffic jams on both sides. Police and district authorities tried to divert traffic through other smaller roads which soon got choked.
Railway traffic was also affected as nearly six trains were held up at various stations due to violence and blockade on railway tracks by the mob in Ludhiana. Railway officials said trains were stopped at Ludhiana, Ambala and other stations. They added that trains were being diverted to other stations.
Police used tear gas, cane charge and firing in the air to disperse the rampaging mobs. Reinforcements were rushed from all neighbouring districts to control the situation.
Ludhiana’s Member of Parliament (MP) and Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari said in Chandigarh: “We have been informing the Punjab government and police about total lawlessness in Ludhiana but no one paid heed. The incident today is unfortunate.”
Punjab government’s media adviser Harcharan Bains claimed that the Punjab police and district authorities reacted “quickly” to the situation and controlled it.
“There was some misunderstanding due to which the situation erupted. It was unanticipated. We will deal with it at the administrative, social and political level to ensure peace,” he added.
Ludhiana, which is Asia’s biggest industrial city and home to big brands like Hero and Oswal groups, attracts thousands of migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other states every year for jobs.
Over one third of the city’s 4 million (40 lakh) population comprises of migrants.
