A day after Barnala deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Satvir Singh was suspended over the July 22 lathicharge on protesting sanitation workers, Barnala City-1 station house officer Lakhwinder Singh was transferred to the district police lines on Saturday.
Event Context
The transfer, confirmed by Barnala mayor Hasan Bhardwaj, came amid sanitation workers’ threat to launch a statewide strike from Monday if their demands are not met.
Workers are seeking dismissal of the DSP and SHO, and registration of a criminal case against all police personnel involved in the lathicharge, apart from inclusion of provisions under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the case.
The police action had triggered widespread protests in Barnala. Several organisations, including BKU Ekta Ugrahan, labour unions, employee unions and sanitation workers’ associations, took out a joint march on Thursday, condemning the alleged use of force and demanding legal action against the DSP.
The Opposition also condemned the police action, which left 22 people injured, including 18 sanitation workers and four police personnel.
Congress leader Raj Kumar Verka met the injured protesters at the Barnala civil hospital on Friday.
The situation later escalated at Handiaya Bazar, where the protesters allegedly hurdled garbage and stones at police personnel, prompting another round of lathicharge.
Police maintained that the force was used after the protesters turned violent, while the workers accused the police of using excessive force, alleging that even women protesters were beaten with canes.
Player Focus
The clash erupted on July 22 when the district administration, assisted by the police, launched a drive to lift garbage that had accumulated across Barnala due to the ongoing strike by sanitation workers.
The workers, who have been protesting since July 8, opposed the move and gathered near SD College, where they alleged that police resorted to a lathicharge to disperse them.
Team Analysis
Congress leaders, including Charanjit Singh Channi, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Rana Gurjeet Singh and Partap Singh Bajwa, addressed a press conference at Barnala MLA Kuldeep Singh Kala Dhillon’s residence on Saturday.
Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi said the party stood in support of the sanitation workers who were brutally beaten by the police during their long-standing strike.
He said the AAP-led Punjab government had previously promised to regularise their jobs, yet nothing had been done. “Sanitation workers do the hardest work—collecting garbage, keeping streets and intersections clean, and even stepping inside sewers to clear blockages—all for extremely low wages. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal must respond to their demands,” he said.
“The chief minister himself should come here, apologise to them, and publicly announce that their demands would be addressed,” Channi said.
He added that the party completely supported the sanitation workers’ struggle and respect whatever decision they make.
Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said AAP chose the broom as their election symbol, yet the very community represented by that symbol was suffering. “They suspended a DSP on Friday, but within a month he will likely be reinstated, promoted and posted to a better position,” Bajwa alleged, adding that the Congress will raise every single issue in the upcoming assembly session.
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring led a candle march against the police action on workers after meeting the injured.
He alleged that the injured protesters were denied Medico-Legal Reports (MLRs) over unpaid fees and also forced to get X-rays in Mehal Kalan.
He said the Congress will gherao the SSP’s office and approach the Punjab and Haryana high court if the Barnala SSP failed to register an FIR against the cops responsible.
BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu also met the injured protesters in the hospital. He alleged that no official had checked in on the injured, who were getting X-rays and other tests done from outside.
Match Outlook
Regarding the upcoming Sunday visit of Punjab State SC Commission chairman Jasvir Singh Garhi to Barnala, Warring said the visit will be genuine only if he ensured registration of a case under the SC/ST Act.
Dismissing the DSP’s suspension as “meaningless”, he said if Sukhbir Singh Badal was held accountable for the 2015 Bargari lathicharge, chief minister Bhagwant Mann was accountable now.
Chandan Kumar Grewal, chairman of Punjab State Safai Karamchari Commission, also termed suspension as insufficient punishment. “We request the chief minister to initiate strict legal action against the DSP,” he said.
Grewal further asked sanitation workers to stop collecting garbage from the homes of police officials in Barnala.
source
Sanitation workers have been on strike since July 8 to demand regular job contracts for outsourced staff, salary increases, and the restoration of the old pension scheme.
Apologise to workers: Channi to Mann, Kejriwal
