Violence spreads in Punjab, Haryana; two dead

Jalandhar/Chandigarh, May 25: Two persons were killed and several injured as violence triggered by the killing of a Dera leader in Vienna engulfed Punjab and parts of Haryana where protestors set afire train coaches, buses and clashed with police prompting authorities to impose curfew in four cities and calling out the Army in Jalandhar and Phagwara. Curfew was imposed in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Phagwara and Hoshiarpur following largescale violence and damage to government and private property, including cars parked in police stations. One person was killed and four others were injured as Army personnel opened fire in Lambra village, 30 kms from Jalandhar, and another person was killed after the police opened fire on protesters at Jalandhar Cantt railway station. Shops and commercial establishments were closed following a Punjab bandh call given by local units of the Dera Sachkhand Ballan whose leaders were attacked in Vienna. The Shiromani Akali Dal also gave a bandh call. Road and railway traffic was disrupted at several places in the state even as protestors damaged trains, buses and other vehicles at various places including Jalandhar, Phagwara, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahar, Banga, Ludhiana and Moga. The Delhi-Lahore bus service was stopped at Ludhiana as a precautionary measure. Protestors also blocked the Ambala-Delhi National Highway for three hours and damaged buses in Ambala. Condemning the killing of the Dera leader, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal appealed for calm and asked people not to be provoked. In Lambra, protestors attacked the convoy of IG (zonal) Sanjeev Kalra and set afire the vehicle of SP (city-II) Sarabjeet Singh in the village. Security men guarding Kalra opened 20 rounds of fire, police said. In Jalandhar, four bogies of the Jammu Kanyakumari Himsagar Express were set on fire after the passengers were asked to alight by the arsonists. The protestors set afire the engine of the Sonepur Jammu 2491 Up Express in Phagwara after forcing the driver Anant Singh to come out by placing a sword on his temple. The engine was detached from the train in time to prevent the fire from spreading to the coaches. A Phagwara report said a mob pelted stones at BSF personnel at a number of places after the force was deployed to check violence. Traffic on various roads, including the Delhi-Ambala, Jalandhar-Jammu and Jalandhar-Chandigarh National Highways besides various state highways has been badly affected. Around 20 buses and other vehicles, including motorcycles, were damaged at various places including Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, and Phagwara in Punjab and Ambala in Haryana. On the Jalandhar-Delhi national highway, protestors armed with lathis and swords damaged the engine of a train bound for Jammu besides attacking shops. A flag march was also conducted in disturbed areas of Jalandhar where all commercial establishments and educational institutions remained closed in the wake of curfew.