Bains brothers' crusade against sand mafia draws huge crowds

Though the Bains brothers - Independent MLAs Simarjit Singh Bains and Balwinder Singh Bains - were arrested, hundreds of members of their 'Team Insaaf' claimed that they would continue the "satyagraha" (agitation) against the sand mafia in the state.

MLA Balwinder Singh Bains was arrested from outside Nagpal Regency and MLA Simarjit Singh Bains was arrested from the banks of Sutlej at Chuharwal village in Ludhiana district, where sand mafia is also active.

Meanwhile, the councillors of Bains group, including Parminder Soma, Daljeet Bhola and others, were also arrested. More than 500 supporters of Bains brothers came to join the 'satyagrah' against the sand mafia, while they were even not allowing the police to arrest their leader Simarjit Singh Bains.

However, the police managed to control the situation by pushing them away. It was learnt that Simarjit Singh Bains and other supporters had started gathering at the bank of Satlej at Chuharwal to participate in the "satyagrah".

Councillors of Bains group, Ranjeet Singh Ubhi, Randhir Singh Sibia, Gurpreet Khurana, Daljeet Singh Bhola, Parminder Soma and others were also present. It was learnt that Gurpreet Khurana was arrested from the spot, while other councillors went to the Meharban police station to court arrest.

Earlier, hundreds of vehicles, including cars, bikes and tractor trolleys reached Chuharwal. The village residents were caught unawares in this high drama. After an hour, the police teams also passed from the same way.

Team Insaaf member Gurpreet Singh said, "I am not afraid of arrest as it is for a noble cause. The price of sand is sky rocketing, but the state government led by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has failed to provide relief to people. If they had taken action against the sand mafia then there was no need of such a satyagrah."

Meanwhile, some Bains brothers' supporters also alleged that the police misbehaved with them and threatened them to leave the place. They also raised questions as to why the police spared those who were involved in the sand mafia. Teenagers also came in large numbers to support the Bains brothers.

Ajaypreet Singh, kin of Simarjit Singh Bains, said they got support of many people for this satyagrah, adding that nobody ran away from the arrest when the police reached Chuharwal village.