One dead in clash between SAD, Congress supporters

Amritsar, Jan 29 (UNI) One person was killed and six others were injured following a clash between ruling Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) workers near Baba Bakala in the sensitive assembly constituency of Beas today.

Senior police officials who rushed to the spot said one person was killed when someone resorted to firing after a clash between SAD and Congress workers. Prior to the firing, activists of the two parties hurled bricks and stones at each other that led to injuries to six persons.

The clash took place near the election office of the Congress candidate close to the railway crossing on Rayya-Batala highway. The identity and the party affiliation of the deceased was being verified by police officials.

The Congress and sitting MLA from Beas, Jasbir Singh Dimpa is involved in a multi-cornered contest against Manjinder Singh Kang of the SAD, who is a relative of former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. The two had contested against each other in the last assembly polls.

According to police officials, the immediate provocation for the clash was the arrest of Sarabjit Singh, a former sarpanch of Baba Bakala and SAD activist by the police. He was arrested after the police had yesterday registered a case of abduction against him and the SAD candidate.

The case was registered following the alleged abduction of Mrs Balbir Kaur Bhullar, the present Sarpanch of Baba Bakala who is a Congress supporter. The case was registered on the complaint of the family of Mrs Bhullar.

UNI