Jat agitators torch police station, Army called

Wednesday March 07, 2012 09:45:47 PM, IANS

Hisar (Haryana): District authorities in Hisar district in Haryana called in the army Wednesday as Jat community agitators set a police station on fire and ransacked and damaged a bank and its ATM in escalated violence following the death of a youth in police firing a day ago.

Hisar district magistrate Amit Aggarwal said he had asked the army to send in reinforcements.

The agitators set the police station on fire and ransacked the bank branch near the Hisar Cantt area.

Several areas of Haryana's Hisar, Jind and Bhiwani districts were cordoned off by the police and other security agencies Wednesday as thousands of Jat agitators blocked roads and rail tracks.

Tension ran high in Haryana's Hisar district as members of the Jat community blocked the national highway to Delhi and railway tracks, a day after a youth was killed in police firing.

The district authorities Wednesday ordered all schools in Hisar district to be closed for three days in view of the agitation.

The youth, Sandeep, 20, was killed early Tuesday as Haryana police attempted to remove protesting Jats from the railway track near Ramayan and Mayyar villages in this district, 300 km from Chandigarh.

While the agitators claimed that he was killed in police firing, the police said that he was killed in firing by the agitators, who were themselves carrying firearms.

Angry Jat leaders said Wednesday morning they would place the body of the victim on the highway till the government took action.

Nearly 25 protestors were injured in the police action Tuesday. Of these, 10 were seriously injured and admitted to hospitals here and in Rohtak.

In neighbouring Jind district, Jat protestors stopped the official car of the district and sessions judge around midnight and set it on fire.

Police sources said the sessions judge and his staff fled from the spot to save themselves.

"There is complete anarchy here. Thousands of Jat protestors can be seen on roads and railway tracks. The traffic jam caused by them is at least 20-25 km long on the Hisar-Delhi highway," a Hisar resident stuck in the road blockade said.

Jat community agitators blocked the Hisar-Delhi national highway and the railway track connecting both places. The protestors could be seen lying down on the tracks Wednesday.

Roads and railway tracks were blocked by Jat protestors in Jind and Bhiwani districts also, police said.

Police and para-military forces cordoned off many parts of the affected districts. No vehicles were being allowed to pass near the areas where the Jat agitators were protesting.

"The agitators include men, women and children. Many of them are carrying lathis (sticks) and stones," one eyewitness said.

The Jat community has been agitating for the last few days, seeking reservation in government jobs for the community in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

They blamed Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for going back on earlier promises and using delaying tactics and force to break up the Jat agitation.

The government tried to end the agitation in the last one week but various factions of the Jat leadership have not agreed to the promises made by Hooda.

In Chandigarh, the Jat agitation figured in the assembly proceedings with the opposition demanding a discussion on the matter. However, the assembly speaker did not allow the discussion.

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Picture of the Day

Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal inspecting the damaged gate number 16 at the Farakka Barrage, Murshidabad district, West Bengal on March 03, 2012. State Minister of Irrigation & Waterways, Micro & Small Scale Enterprises & Textiles, Government of West Bengal Dr. Manas Ranjan Bhunia and State Minister of Development & Planning and Power, Government of West Bengal Manish Gupta are also seen.