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2 DSPs, Students Injured During Violent Protests in Karnal

Students reportedly indulged in stone-pelting to protest the death of another student who died in a bus accident.

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Haryana Police on Friday, 12 April, fired in the air, used tear gas and resorted to baton charge to disperse a group of students in Karnal that allegedly pelted stones during a protest over a peer's death.

The 20-year-old student of Industrial Training Institute, Karnal, was crushed to death by a government-run bus at the ITI Chowk on Thursday, 11 April.
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Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala condemned the "brutal" police action and likened it to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that took place on 13 April, 1919.

A senior police official said 30 policemen, including two DSP-rank officers and three SHOs, were injured in the stone-pelting.

Seven students were also injured, he added.

Four policemen have received severe injuries, the official said.

A total of 104 students were arrested and charged with rioting, obstructing public servants from discharging their duties and causing hurt and injuries to them, Karnal Superintendent of Police Surinder Singh Bhoria said.
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What Happened?

Protesting students alleged that state transport bus drivers do not stop buses at designated stops, forcing them to chase buses.

They claimed that after the student was hit by the bus on Thursday, its driver did not immediately stop the vehicle, thereby crushing the victim under its wheels.

Bhoria said the protesters were assured on Thursday that the administration would form a committee to look into their grievances and efforts would be made to resolve them.

He said the students, however, gathered in large numbers at the ITI Chowk on Friday morning and started pelting stones at police personnel without any provocation.

The SP said some mischievous elements provoked the students to block the highway but police foiled the attempt.

Police had to fire in the air to disperse the crowd, Bhoria said.

Batons and tear gas shells were used to quell the protests, he added.

After the police action, some students had entered the ITI campus, which is nearby, but personnel chased them and over 100 were taken into custody.

After the accident on Thursday, the ITI students had created a ruckus and vandalised the bus that had hit the student. They had also blocked the national highway briefly.

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Surjewala Condemns Police Action on Students

Surjewala said while the nation is remembering those killed in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the Haryana Police is "committing atrocities on the innocent ITI students".

"The Haryana police's atrocities have reminded the people of brutalities during British rule," he said.

"Police reportedly not only baton charged the students, chasing some of them inside the ITI campus, but they also beat up the girls and staff members by entering inside the staff rooms and classrooms, which exposes the most deplorable and anti-students mindset of the BJP government," the Kaithal MLA alleged.

In a jibe at the ruling BJP's 'Beti Bachai, Beti Padhao' (Save the daughter, teach the daughter) slogan, Surjewala said the police action showed that it had become "Beti Satao, Beti Pitwao" (Harass the daughter, beat the daughter).

The Congress leader alleged that Khattar had failed to provide a people-friendly administration.

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