In front of the rented residence of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday, the Sangrur Police lashed out at protesting farm workers. The workers urged that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 (MGNREGA) be amended to raise the minimum daily pay to Rs. 700, adopt five-marla plot plans for Dalits, and provide the community the third share of common panchayat land on lease.
Under the banner of the Sanjha Mazdoor Morcha, an alliance of eight labour organisations, they were demonstrating. Around three o’clock in the afternoon, hundreds of agricultural labourers from Sangrur assembled near the Patiala-Bathinda road and marched in that direction.
The cops began using force on them and even used a lathi charge after they got outside the private colony where Mann’s house is located.
Manpreet Singh, the SP for Sangrur, organised the cane-charging and was seen in footage hitting protesters. In the videos, he is seen ordering other cops and hitting protesters.
