More than 35 persons including 10 policemen and several women were injured in a lathicarge by the police to disperse retrenched personnel of the disbanded Haryana Industrial Security Force (HISF) who tried to block the way of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Rohtak on Sunday.While Rohtak SP Subhash Yadav said the lathicharge was resorted to after the protesters started pelting stones, the retrenched personnel alleged that it was unprovoked as they were merely on their way to sumbit a memorandum to the CM.However, eyewitnesses said the protesters had indulged in stone pelting, which was substantiated by the fact that several policemen too were among the injured. The HISF was raised by the previous INLD government and disbanded by Hooda after he came to power.Seeking their re-instatement, about 100 retrenched personnel had been staging a dharna and observing a relay hunger-strike outside the mini-Secretariat in Rohtak for the last 5 days.On Sunday afternoon, after coming to know that the CM was participating in an official function close-by, the protesters decided to stop his convoy, Rohtak SP Yadav said.The incidents, including the lathicharge, took place at Chottu Ram Park Chowk. While the injured from the protesters included several women, SP Yadav was among the 10-odd injured from the police side. There was a showdown at PGI Rohtak also where, according to the protesters, the doctors initially refused to admit the injured.The protesters’ leaders, including CPI-M state secretary Subash Chhokar and BJP leader Abhimanyu, claimed that over 100 retrenched personnel were injured in the ‘‘unprovoked’’ lathicharge. They also alleged that some protesters had been detained by the police in the local city police station and allegedly maltreated.Hooda had a string of official programmes in Rohtak on Sunday. Reacting to the incident, the Chief Minister said some anti-social elements were trying to create hindrances in the rapid pace of development of the state.
