JHABAAL (TARAN TARAN): The helpless Harijans of Jhabaal which  included  women nightmarish experience at the hands ‘of local police, allegedly for not voting in favor of the Congress candidate from Tam Taran Parliamentary constituency, Surinder singh Kairon.

On the night of April 28, a day after polling, the policemen, headed by  SHO Jhabaal, Kulwinder Singh, let loose the terror in Harijan Basti and didn’t spare anyone who Came in their ‘way, Many of the residents fled away ‘and about half a dozen youths of the Police Gypsy.

 ‘Shabeg Singh, a handicapped boy who was beaten up mercilessly by the SHO himself, while giving the account told that roughly around 9 pm, he saw a police vehicle coming into their it and suddenly he was pushed down by policemen and kicked in the abdomen and beaten with a stick he himself was carrying to support his polio effected leg.

‘The scared villagers, including Harijans and Jal Sikhs, assembled to. Tell their woes. Sukhdev Singh, one of the main victims of police wrath, said that the SHO took five of them into the police station and stripped them naked. He alleged that the SHO questioned him about whom they had voted for and why they had not voted for Kairon, Sukhdev Singh got three stitches on his finger. ‘Another victim Sarbjit Singh alleged that the SHO and other policemen ‘were, drunk and they were beaten in four shifts up to midnight. He said that they were asked to touch the feet of Sukhwinder Singh Sukh, sarpanch of village Jhabaal Khas and Mohinder Singh, member of the panchayat, who were present in the police station. The villagers alleged that they both were known supporters of Kairon.

The sarpanch of village Jhabal Kalan, Nand Lal said that when he ‘was returning from his shop, he saw many residents of the village going towards police station and he persuaded them to wait in the village and he himself went to meet police officials. He said that he was not allowed to enter the police station and doors of police station were closed. He said he took up the matyr with Dilbagh Singh Deleke, Congress MLA from the area who visited the village next day.

Article extracted from this publication >>May 8, 1996