Men who claimed attack on Umar Khalid fail to surrender

Ludhiana rural SSP Varinder Singh Brar said the force will be kept deployed at the village so that they can nab them if they turn up around midnight. “Some officers from Delhi police have returned and some will stay back.” Meanwhile, several Left-leaning students and labour unions, including Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Tarksheel Society, Komagata Maru Yaadgar Committee, Inquilabi Kender Punjab and Lok Kala Manch Mullanpur squatted outside the martyr’s residence, a heritage property maintained by the state tourism and culture department, and at the village entrance chowk.

Carrying flags and sticks and raising slogans like “Dilli Di RSS toli murdabaad”, “Inquilab Zindabad”, “RSS di gundagardi nahi chalegi” and “Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha Amar Rahe, the unions said that the attackers would not be allowed to surrender at the martyr’s residence and misuse his name. The martyr’s home opens at 9 am and closes at 5.30 pm for visitors.

“Kartar Singh Sarabha was a Sikh revolutionary leader who vouched for students’ rights. These attackers are trying to distort history by associating themselves with him. The attack was at the behest of the RSS and we will not allow them to surrender here. If police wants to arrest them, it should be done outside this village. We will not let these attackers use the land of our martyr to justify their actions,” said Kulwinder Singh, general secretary, Naujawan Bharat Sabha.

The protesters claimed that even police were trying to present these attackers as “heroes” by not arresting them before they could reach the martyr’s village. “Why are they waiting for them to reach here? Why are they not being arrested on the way itself? Are police waiting for them to come here and then welcome them like heroes,” questioned Arun Kumar from Naujawan Bharat Sabha.

“If they come here, they will not be spared in any case. So it is better if police arrest them before they enter Sarabha village,” said Jasdev Lalton from Komagata Maru Yadgaar Committee. Inspector Harjinder Singh, Station House Officer of Jodhan police station, said that the protesters foiled their plan. “Had protesters not been here, they might have turned up. Also, the attackers wanted wide publicity and limelight in national media. But due to Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s death, their plan was foiled too,” he said.