Jalandhar, June 09: No fresh outbreak of violence was reported in areas hit by caste-clashes involving Dalits and Jat Sikh community on the fifth day of the trouble today while Talhan village and parts of Jalandhar remained under curfew. The situation in the affected areas was under control though tense and the curfew would continue as a precautionary measure, district administration sources said. In Phagwara, where Bahujan Samaj Party had called a city bandh today, a mob forced shopkeepers to down their shutters and two buses were damaged by bandh supporters, sources said.
Meanwhile, State Congress chief H S Hanspal said slackness on the part of district administration was responsible for spreading of the clashes after it broke out in Talihan. He said once the ministerial committee appointed by the Chief Minister to look into the clashes submitted its report, strict action would be taken against those responsible. He accused the BSP, BJP and Akali Dal of trying to derive political advantage out of the clashes and said the state government would firmly deal with those fomenting trouble.
Bureau Report