Sidhu, Punjab cabinet ministers detained on UP border
Darpan News Desk IANS, 07 Oct, 2021 11:03 AM
Chandigarh, Oct 7 (IANS) Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu along with Cabinet ministers and leaders were detained on Thursday on the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh border in Saharanpur as they were heading towards Lakhimpur Kheri where nine people were killed in violence that erupted during farmers' protests on Sunday (October 3).
They have been staging a sit-in protest at the border.
The leaders have been demanding the arrest of Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son Ashish Mishra in connection with the death of farmers during the violence.
Sidhu threatened to go on hunger strike if action is not taken against the minister's son by Friday.
He was accompanying Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa and cabinet ministers Pargat Singh and Vijay Inder Singla, besides former ministers Balbir Singh Sidhu, Gurpreet Kangar and Sunder Shyam Arora and other leaders.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi also joined Sidhu for a brief period when the vehicular march started in the morning from Mohali, near here.
The Centre on Thursday announced the first instalment of a fiscal relief package, worth Rs 170,000 crore, to protect the weaker sections of the society from the economic fallout of Covid-19.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh here on Thursday announced immediate distribution of 10 lakh packets of dry ration to daily wagers and unorganised labourers to help them during the curfew because of the COVID-19 crisis.
Urging the police personnel to exercise maximum restraint in the difficult situation, the Chief Minister asked them to find more compassionate ways of handling curfew violations, especially in cases of individuals found moving out for essentials.
A 63-year-old woman from Kangra who failed to disclose her travel history following her return from Dubai and was later tested positive for COVID-19 has been booked under Section 270 of the IPC, which carries a maximum imprisonment of upto two years.
