200 RLD, BKU workers, policemen injured in clashes

About 200 farmers and police men were injured in clashes when the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) protest turned violent at Murad Nagar town of Ghaziabad district Thursday.

Workers of both the organisations were protesting the snapping of water and power supply to the Tughlak Road residence of former civil aviation minister Ajit Singh to force him to leave the government bungalow.

The demonstrators blocked traffic on National Highway No.58 and tried to disrupt the water supply to the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant in Delhi.

Vijay Nagar police station Officer Arun Kumar Singh sustained critical injuries in the clash with demonstrators and has been rushed to the hospital while RLD leader Veer Pal Singh suffered bullet injury and has been admitted to the Suvidaya Hospital.

Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police K. Satyanarayan has started negotiating with the farmer leaders, Rakesh Tikait of BKU and Tejpal Singh, to secure end of the protest.

The Tughlak Road bungalow is where the late Chaudhary Charan Singh resided during his tenure as the prime minister and finance minister. Later, Ajit Singh, his son, stayed in the bungalow.

The RLD workers said the bungalow should be declared as the Chaudhary Charan Singh Memorial Centre like other government bungalows of Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Kanshi Ram and Jagjivan Ram.