Cops thwart protest in Mohali

Tribune News Service

Mohali, September 15

Elaborate security arrangements thwarted attempts by supporters and members of the Kashmiri Kaumi Sangharsh Samarthan Samiti, Punjab, to enter the town and stage a protest against the abrogation of Article 370 and 35 A in Jammu and Kashmir.

Some of the protesters, around 70, managed to reach the Mohali railway station where they were stopped by the police. Thirty Kashmiri students, including 15 girls, also reached the Dasehra Ground in Phase 8 where the rally was scheduled to take place, but jawans of the Rapid Action Force intercepted them and made them return immediately.

Mohali Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate Girish Dayalan said the day passed off peacefully. “No untoward incident was reported today. Some of the protesters managed to reach here, but they were sent back to their hometowns,” said Dayalan.

He said around 70 protesters from Morinda and Ludhiana reached here by train this afternoon. “They were intercepted at the railway station and sent back to their native places,” said Dayalan. The students, who were said to be members of the Punjab Students Union (Lalkar), came on foot, raising slogans.

Around 1,600 cops, including Punjab Police commandos and four companies of the Rapid Action Force, were deployed at sensitive points in the district.