Patiala, June 8
The Punjab State and Chandigarh Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu notice of the alleged lathi-charge carried out by police during an ongoing protest outside the PSPCL office in Patiala on 5 June.
The Commission has directed the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Patiala Range to submit a detailed report regarding the incident at least one week before the next hearing date, which has been fixed for 17 July.
According to the Commission’s letter, the action was initiated on the basis of a newspaper report alleging that the police bypassed the prescribed procedure during the lathi-charge. The report further stated that several youths sustained injuries during the incident.
The Commission also noted that police later registered cases against the protesters under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) the following day.
The human rights body stated that the suo motu notice had been issued on the basis of these reported allegations and sought a factual response from the police authorities regarding the circumstances surrounding the crackdown.
The protest outside the PSPCL office had reportedly been ongoing prior to the confrontation between demonstrators and police personnel.
