Watch: Punjab cop slaps woman farmer in Gurdaspur village; sent to Police Lines
Gurdaspur: A Punjab policeman allegedly slapped a woman farmer, identified as Lakhwinder Kaur, who had been protesting against the acquisition of their land for the Delhi-Katra National Highway. The video of the the Punjab cop slapping the woman farmer at Bhamari village of Shri Hargobindpur block in Gurdaspur district has gone viral on social media. The incident is stated to be of Wednesday evening.
In the viral video, the Punjab cop is also seen mishandling an elderly, whose turban also came off. A woman in the video is seen shouting "Chad do ehnu, eh taan bimar ne (spare him at least, he is unwell)".
The SSP, Batala, said the policeman had been sent to the Police Lines and a departmental inquiry had been ordered against him.
The victim, Lakhwinder Kaur, said, "One of her children is physically disabled while her husband is a heart patient. They have a total of one-and-a-half acre of land and the same is being acquired by the government. However, were are being offered very low rate by the administration. Yesterday evening, police personnel manhandled protesters, and slapped me."
The protesting farmers said they would not allow any government or non-government agency to snatch even an inch of the land belonging to farmers until they were given adequate compensation for the same.
On the other hand, Batala SP Gurpreet Singh claimed that farmers in a tractor allegedly tried to run over policemen. The Punjab cop slapped the woman only after the latter used abusive language, he alleged.
The proposed 669-km Delhi- Amritsar-Katra Expressway would be developed at a total cost of about Rs 39,500 crore. The expressway being developed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will bring down the travel time from Delhi to Amritsar to four-and-a-half hours and the journey time between the national capital and Katra would cut to only six-and-a-half hours.
However, the farmers are adamant that they would not allow acquisition till they were given adequate composition.
Action taken: Watch video