Punjab policeman suspended after protests

MOHALI - The head of a police post here was Sunday suspended for failing to control villagers who blocked the highway linking Chandigarh with Ludhiana in Punjab, an official said.

National Highway 95 was blocked around 9.30 p.m. Friday by hundreds of residents of Ghaduan village, alleging that a family was attacked and the police failed to arrest the attackers. The protest lasted five hours.

There was a traffic jam on over 10 km stretch of the highway. Scores of cars, buses and trucks were stranded. Traffic resumed Saturday.

Ghaduan police post in-charge Gurvinder Singh has been suspended and sent to police lines, an official said.

The victim’s widow, Savitri Devi, and her three sons complained against Gurvinder Singh after they were attacked by her brother-in-law Ravinder Sood and a dozen others Friday evening over a property dispute.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Raj Balwinder Singh said: “We have suspended the police post in-charge. We will arrest the accused very soon.”