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BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) leaders booked for murder bid after attack on Bathinda DSP

ByVishal Joshi
Jan 21, 2025 02:21 PM IST

Two FIRs against union chief Ugrahan and his deputy Jethuke after assault on DSP, who was hospitalised with a fracture in his left arm, and four revenue officials, carrying out land demarcation, were held hostage at Jeond village on Monday. No arrest yet.

A day after deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Rahul Bhardwaj and his gunman Jaswinder Singh were attacked by farm union protesters at Jeond village in Bathinda district, a case of attempt to murder and abduction was registered against 11 Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) leaders, including president Joginder Singh Ugrahan, official sources said on Tuesday.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan addressing protesters at Jeond village in Bathinda district on Monday. (Sanjeev Kumar/HT)
Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan addressing protesters at Jeond village in Bathinda district on Monday. (Sanjeev Kumar/HT)

Two first information reports (FIRs) were registered at Sadar Rampura police station on Monday evening after the DSP was hospitalised with a fracture in his left arm.

No arrest has been made so far.

The activists, led by Ugrahan and his deputy Jhanda Singh Jethuke, clashed with the police while obstructing the land demarcation exercise being undertaken on Punjab and Haryana high court orders. They were booked for attempt to murder, abduction and other criminal offences.

The high court has asked the district administration to complete the exercise by January-end to settle a 70-year-old dispute between landowners and cultivator tenants. The conflict is over the ownership of nearly 9,000 acres. The original owners, who had relinquished control to cultivators decades ago, have demanded one-third share of the landholding. Their claim was upheld by the high court and later the Supreme Court. The cultivators, backed by the farm union, want to retain full possession. Citing a 2005 state government amendment that supports ownership rights for cultivators, Jethuke said: “We want those who have tilled the land for almost a century to be declared the rightful owners.”

Tractor-trolley full of stones at protest site

In his complaint, Bhardwaj said that the activists had blocked the road to Jeond to prevent revenue officials from reaching the village for the land demarcation. He said he saw a tractor-trolley full of bricks and stones and asked the protesters to clear the road. Agitated, they attacked him with lathis. His gunman was injured while trying to protect him.

The BKU leaders were booked under Sections 109 (attempt to murder), 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty) and 285 (obstruction in public way) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Revenue officials threatened

The second FIR was registered against Ugrahan, Jethuke, Bant Singh and three others for holding four revenue officials hostage.

The complaint was lodged by Gurlal Singh, who works on contract with the revenue department after retiring as a patwari. Gurlal identified the accused obstructing him and others from discharging their duty. He said that three of his colleagues and he were prevented from completing the land consolidation work on court orders and were bundled into a vehicle of a BKU activist. They were taken to the village gurdwara on the direction of the farm union leaders, who even snatched their mobile phones. Gurlal said they were threatened and let off.

The union activists are camping at Jeond after BKU general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan announced a ‘pucca morcha (long protest)’ to foil any attempt by the district authorities to undertake land demarcation.

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