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On 30 May, the Panjab police arrested a local youth, Jobanpreet Singh, from Majithia, Amritsar district, for assaulting an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) worker, Paramjit Singh Pamma. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sohail Qasim Mir said that around 11.30 am that day, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia and his supporters barged into the police station and attempted to free the detainee. They also tore official case files, damaged government property, and assaulted police personnel. The police booked Majithia and carried out raids at his residences in Amritsar and Chandigarh. Majithia is absconding, and the police have issued a lookout notice. Ironically, Majithia was one of the first to condemn the attack by now Khadoor Sahib Member of Parliament Amritpal Singh and his supporters on Ajnala police station, Amritsar district, in February 2023. Coincidentally, hours after Majithia was booked, 11 police officials were transferred. The transferred officials included Amritsar Rural SSP Mir—now posted as Assistant Inspector General Personnel-I, an administrative post—in Chandigarh. Meanwhile, a brawl took place in Kasol, Himachal Pradesh (HP) on 30 May between tourists from Panjab and locals. In the scuffle, tourist Manpreet Singh shot a local, Yuvraj, in the leg. The police have arrested the Panjabi tourists while Manpreet's family has appealed to the Chief Ministers of Panjab and HP to release their son. Concurrently, on 1 Jun, tensions flared on the Panjab-HP border, with protesters blocking the Kiratpur Sahib–Manali National Highway for four hours over the entry tax imposed by HP's Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Indian National Congress government. On 4 Jun, the agitation against the HP government’s entry tax on out-of-state vehicles escalated after Nihang Sikhs (traditional warrior) imposed a symbolic Khalsa tax on Himachal-registered vehicles entering Panjab via the Kiratpur Sahib–Manali highway for one hour as a protest against Himachal’s entry levy. Speaking to reporters, Nihang Achar Singh, who led the drive, said they took the step because both the Panjab and HP governments had failed to address the concerns of people affected by the HP tax. The taxes by both the HP government and the Nihang Sikhs are illegal because the highways are maintained by the National Highways Authority of India which already imposes a hefty tax on all vehicles (earlier coverage).
SAD Leader Bikram Singh Majithia Photo by Indian Express
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