Chandigarh, Jan 8 (IANS) A Chandigarh Police Inspector was injured on Tuesday in a clash with Quami Insaaf Morcha members here after the police fired teargas shells and resorted to cane-charge to prevent them from marching towards Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's residence.
The Quami Insaaf Morcha has been demanding the release of Sikh prisoners languishing in jails.
Station House Officer Jaiveer Rana was injured in the clash in Sector-43, the police said.
The protesters were seeking the release of Sikh prisoners or 'Bandi Singhs' and had entered Chandigarh from Mohali where they gathered on Tuesday morning to mark the second anniversary of the Quami Insaaf Morcha.
As a preventive step, the Chandigarh Police deployed additional personnel on entry points to the city from Mohali in Punjab.
Despite scores of protesters managing to enter the city, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.
All the major entry and exit points from Mohali towards Chandigarh were fortified with barricades to prevent their entry, leaving residents and commuters stranded on several roads.
Near the ISBT in Sector-43 here, a clash broke out between the police and CRPF personnel and the protesters.
A few Chandigarh police personnel were attacked by the protesters, leaving them injured.
The police also detained a few protesters.
Since February 2023, members of the Quami Insaaf Morcha members have been protesting at the entry point to Chandigarh, demanding "justice in the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib; besides justice for release of Bandi Sikh (Sikh prisoners) who fought for Sikh community and completed their jail terms".
In February 2023, a clash broke out between the Quami Insaaf Morcha protesters and the Chandigarh police that led to the registration of cases against the Morcha activists.
Even the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had launched a signature campaign to free the Sikh prisoners.
