Faridkot -AROUND 32 days after the Behbal Kalan firing incident, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on Tuesday visited the families of those killed in police firing at Behbal Kalan last month.
A heavy police force had been deployed at Saravan and Niamiwala villages since last evening. Despite that some protesters of Sarawan and adjoining villages managed to stage a protest in front of the house of Shaheed Gurjeet Singh.
Sukhbir’s visit to Saravan village was, however, delayed by over four-and-a-half hours as Sikh protesters blocked the entry gate to Gurjeet Singh’s house. While he was to reach Saravan at 12.30 pm, the deputy CM finally reached at 5 pm, amid tight security.
The police had to face a lot of resistance in dispersing the villagers. They even asked Gurjeet’s grandfather to urge the protesters to give up.
At least an hour before Sukhbir’s visit to Sarawan, the police rounded up 11 protesters, including two women, and dispersed the crowd.
During his 15-minute stay at Gurjeet’s house, Sukhbir said a community hall would be built in the memory of the deceased and promised a government job to a member in the victim family. He also promised to allocate Rs2 crore for the development of the village, said Pritam Singh Matharoo, Gurjeet’s grandfather. “We demanded nothing for our family but for the village,” he said.
Sukhbir, accompanied by MLAs Deep Malhotra and Mantar Brar, then visited the house of deceased Bhagwan Krishan Singh at the adjoining Niamiwala village.
Here also, the Deputy CM told the deceased’s father Mohinder Singh that a community hall would be built at Niamiwala village and promised a government job to a family member.
“We will get clearance for the jobs in the next Cabinet meeting,” he said.
The deputy CM later met firing victim Beant Singh at Niamiwala and handed him a cheque worth Rs 1 lakh as financial assistance.