200 detained over bid to take possession of land

The police today rounded up activists of the Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Committee (ZPSC), who planned to take possession of hundreds of acres of land near Bir Aishwan, Sangrur.

The ZPSC wants to set up Begumpura village on the land, once owned by the erstwhile princely state of Jind that had no heir following the death of its last ruler. The committee wants to distribute the land among Dalits under the Land Holdings Act, 1972.

To thwart the march, special nakas were laid near in Sangrur, including Kammomajra, Gharachon and Ghabdan.

As members of the ZPSC left for Bir Aishwan from Gharachon village near Bhawanigarh in the morning, the police detained them. The police said more than 200 activists of the ZPSC had been placed under preventive detention while others had been allowed to go home.

Mukesh Malaud, zonal president of the ZPSC said, “We will try our best to set up Begumpura village for the poor and landless labourers. On the basis of the Land Ceiling Act-1972, the ZPSC has decided to get 927 acres of land of erstwhile king of Jind.”

Punjab