Haryana Government on Wednesday appointed Justice Somnath Aggarwal (retd.) of Punjab and Haryana High Court as Commission of Inquiry to ensure fair and transparent investigation into the incident of lathicharge on farmers at Bastara Toll Plaza in Karnal on August 28.
A decision to this regard was taken in the meeting of the state cabinet held under Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
The Commission of Inquiry will inquire into the circumstances leading up to and including the action by the Police at Karnal on August 28 and the use of force against the demonstrators, an official spokesman said. He said that the Commission will also ascertain persons responsible for said situation and further will inquire into the role of IAS Ayush Sinha, the then Karnal sub divisional magistrate, in the police action on farmers.
Justice Somnath Aggarwal (retd) had in the past headed Haryana Backward Classes Commission.
Haryana Police had lathicharged a group of farmers at Karnal’s Bastara toll plaza on August 28 while they were heading to protest against a BJP meeting where Chief Minister Manohar Lal and senior BJP leaders were present. At least 15 farmers were injured during the incident while one farmer died later.
Karnal assembly seat is represented by the Chief Minister in Haryana Vidhan Sabha.
APPROVAL TO IMPLEMENT MUKHYAMANTI BAGWANI BIMA YOJANA
The State Government has decided to cover farmers growing horticultural crops against abiotic factors under an especially designed insurance scheme with the approval for the implementation of Mukhyamantri Bagwani Bima Yojana (MBBY) - an assurance-based scheme to compensate crop losses due to adverse weather and natural calamities for farmers growing horticulture crops. An official spokesman said that the parameters like hailstorms, frost, rainfall, flood, fire, etc., which lead to crop loss have been taken under the scheme. A total of 21 vegetable, fruit and spice crops will be covered under this.