The vehicle of Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma was allegedly attacked by some protesting farmers at the Cholang toll plaza in Hoshiarpur district, police said on Monday evening. Window Panes of his car were damaged in this incident, though Sharma was safe.
The incident took place when Sharma was going back to Pathankot from Jalandhar. When his vehicle reached the Cholang toll plaza near Tanda, a group of protesting farmers shouted slogans and threw punches at the car’s window panes, Station House Officer (Tanda) Bikram Singh said. Farmers had laid siege to the toll plaza on October 5, he added. Ashwani Sharma claimed that baseball bats and stones were used to damage his vehicle and his gunmen took it to safety. Sharma said attackers were not farmers and alleged that it was a planned attack. “The attack was only to defame the farmers’ ongoing agitation,” he said.
Hoshiarpur Senior Superintendent of Police Navjot Singh Mahal said the Punjab BJP chief was “perfectly alright”. BJP workers and his supporters staged a dharna and blocked vehicular traffic for about 45 minutes at Dasuya on the Jalandhar-Pathankot GT road, demanding action against the culprits.
Ashwani Sharma lodged a complaint at the Dasuya police station in this connection.
Meanwhile, BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh condemned the incident and alleged that it was “engineered” by the ruling Congress. “Those who attacked Ashwani Sharma are goons of the Congress-led government and wanted to give wrong direction to the farmers'' protest,” said Chugh.
“Farmers do not resort to such attacks and there has been no such incident ever since their protest began,” said Chugh. He said it was a “security lapse” on the part of the Punjab Police.
Meanwhile Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh strongly condemned the attack on Punjab BJP chief and said he has asked the Director General of Police to identify culprits and take immediate action. "Won't let anyone disturb state's peace or take law into their hands," Capt Amarinder said in a tweet. In another tweet, he said, there is no question of involvement of Punjab Congress in the attack and advised BJP leaders to "refrain from making frivolous and politically motivated allegations", saying this was highly irresponsible.