Congress stages dharna at Rajasthan Police headquarters over action against party workers

The Opposition Congress staged a dharna at the Rajasthan police headquarters on Thursday in protest against the action, including arrest, taken in the matters of black flags shown to Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma in Sikar and a demonstration against the State government in Bikaner.

The police arrested National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) district president Om Prakash Naga in Sikar and conducted a raid at the residence and agricultural field of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) secretary Ramniwas Kukna in Bikaner earlier this week. Mr. Naga was allegedly tortured in the police custody.

The PCC passed a resolution against the police action at a meeting, after which a delegation of senior leaders went to the police headquarters to meet Director-General of Police U.R. Sahoo. Dissatisfied with the DGP’s response, PCC president Govind Singh Dotasra, Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully and other Congress leaders and MLAs staged a dharna in front of his chamber.

Mr. Naga and a large number of student leaders had shown black flags to the Chief Minister with the demand for restoration of the division status to Sikar during his visit to the town last week. While the police arrested him and several other NSUI office-bearers, Mr. Dotasra said the student leaders and party workers were being treated like criminals.

In Bikaner, a police team raided the premises of Mr. Kukna, who was staging a demonstration seeking compensation for the death of six persons. The police seized a transformer from his agricultural field and sealed his dairy.

Mr. Dotasra alleged that the police officers were acting under political pressure to register false cases against the Congress party workers. Separately, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot asked the DGP and the Home Secretary to stop “undemocratic actions” against the Opposition party workers immediately.