Two revenue officials ‘assaulted’ by policemen in J&K’s Ramban

Ramban/Jammu, Sep 6 (PTI) Two revenue officials, including a naib tehsildar, were allegedly assaulted by some police personnel in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district, triggering a protest by their colleagues and clerical staff.

Although the senior officials are tight-lipped over the alleged incident, which occurred at the hill resort of Sanasar late on Tuesday, official sources said a team led by the Ramban deputy commissioner visited the scene to gather first-hand information.

The naib tehsildar and his subordinate patwari were allegedly roughed up and locked inside their office at Sanasar by a police party that was agitated over the removal of some tents on a piece of land taken over by the force, the sources said.

They said the police had sought the transfer of a piece of land from the revenue department last year but the application was rejected and they were asked to vacate the parcel. When they failed to vacate, revenue department employees seized the tents and boards installed by the police.

The incident sparked protests by revenue employees, who held a demonstration outside the deputy commissioner’s office to demand action against the guilty police personnel.

“All clerical staff of the deputy commissioner’s office and the revenue department went on a spontaneous strike and held a protest against the highhandedness of the police,” Ramban Patwar Association chief Harjeet Singh said.

He said the protesters are demanding immediate suspension of the guilty police personnel and a high-level inquiry into the incident.