Sikh protestors block rail tracks in Punjab

Train services on the Amritsar-New Delhi railway line were hit Sunday when Sikh protestors squatted on tracks. They were agitating against the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case by a Delhi court.

Railway officials said that many trains, including the Shatabdi Express, Garib Rath, Howrah-Amritsar Mail and the Andaman Express were held up at various points Sunday morning following the protests. Some goods trains were also affected.

The affected trains were running up to four hours behind schedule, railway officials said.

The protests were called by Sikh organisations, including the Riots Victims Welfare Society and the Sikh Students Federation.

Protestors said that Sajjan Kumar had been "saved at the behest of the Congress leadership at the centre". They said that victims of the riots had not got justice even after almost 30 years.

They demanded that the cases of the 1984 riots be handed over to fast-track courts.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Avtar Singh Makkar also joined the protest.

The protestors lifted the blockade, which caused inconvenience to travellers, after nearly four hours.