Excelsior Correspondent
POONCH, Jan 10: At least seven persons including a police constable and an engineer of PDC were injured during clash between police and villagers at Parnai under Surankote Police Jurisdiction today.
Official reports said that incident took place when the joint team led by Additional DC Poonch and assisted by SDM Rahul Yadav and SDPO Surankote Asgar Malik started operation to clear the road leading to Tunnel No. 1 of Parnai Hydel Power Project. The villagers had already gathered there with the intentions not to allow work on this road.
The team had also taken a JCB with it for operation.
The villagers along with women and some elderly people sat at the site on dharna and did not allow the execution of work, alleging that they had changed the survey of the road. As the police resorted to lathi-charge to clear the area, the villagers resorted to stone pelting. They also smashed the wind screen ( front glass) of the JCB. In the process five villagers, an engineer and a constable were injured. The team had to call off the operation without any success.
SDPO, Surankote, Asgar Malik when contacted said that the villagers have taken compensation for the land which came in the alignment of power project road. Due to their own clash of interests, they are not allowing the Project authorities to construct the road. The PDC then approached DC Poonch who directed for clearance of the road. He said that a Constable and an Executive Engineer of PDC received injuries during stone pelting. A few civilians may also have received some minor injuries but no body was hospitalized. He said the operation was later called off.
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