Disrespect to Guru Nanak: Alleging police inaction, protesters block Samrala Chowk for hours

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, November 9

Upset over the failure of the police to arrest Anil Arora, prime accused in the disrespect to Guru Nanak Dev case even after three weeks, hundreds of activists of several Sikh bodies squatted in protest at Samrala Chowk here. As a result, vehicular traffic between Ludhiana and Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar and Ludhiana and Delhi remained disrupted for several hours today.

Motorists, bus passengers and other commuters had a tough time as thousands of vehicles remained stranded on the Ludhiana-Delhi GT Road and Ludhiana-Chandigarh road. In the traffic snarl-up, some police vehicles and ambulances were also stuck and there were reports of exchange of heated arguments between the protesters and those held up in the traffic jam.

Swinging into action after protesters blocked Samrala Chowk, the city traffic police issued an advisory for diversion of traffic. Accordingly, Chandigarh-bound traffic from the Jalandhar side was diverted via Tajpur Road, while Delhi-bound vehicles were advised to take route of Jagraon Bridge and Sherpur Chowk.

Senior police officials said since the police were aware of the proposed protest by Sikh organisations today, adequate timely measures were taken to avoid traffic congestion at Samrala Chowk and elsewhere in the city. “Vehicular traffic from Jalandhar to Firozepur has been asked to take the route of Ladhowal Bypass from the toll plaza, while traffic from the Firozepur side towards Delhi is being diverted through Southern Bypass to Doraha,” said a police official.

Clearing the air over alleged delay in the arrest of Anil Arora, prime accused in the case registered against him and others on October 20 for showing disrespect to Sri Guru Nanak Dev, Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar had issued a video message on Monday evening that till now the police had arrested seven co-accused and conspirators in the case.

Bhullar had assured the city residents that the police were leaving no stone unturned to nab the prime accused and in this connection the police had raided the residence of one person here on charges of harbouring a fugitive (Anil Arora). The accused person, identified as Umesh Kumar Gandhi, was arrested and on the basis of information provided by him, a bag containing Rs 10 lakh was recovered from the house of one of Arora’s relatives. He said several police teams are on the hunt for Anil Arora and he would be arrested very soon.