Hans News Service oshiarpur/Ferozepur

Normallife was affected at most places in Punjab on Thursday with markets and commercial establishments remaining shut following a state-level ‘bandh’ call by sanitation workers against the Barnala lathi-charge incident. Sanitation workers also held protests at several places against the state government, demanding action against police officials involved in the lathi-charge incident.

On July 22, police resorted to a lathi-charge on sanitation workers after they allegedly hurled stones and garbage bags at police in Barnala in an alleged attempt to thwart a cleanliness drive undertaken by the local municipal corporation and district authorities. Almost all shops and business establishments remained closed in many parts of Punjab.

However, hospitals, medical stores, ambulance services and other emergency services remained functional. Main markets in many places, including Barnala, Hoshiarpur, Sangrur, Tarn Taran, and Samana in Patiala, remained shut due to the ‘bandh’ call.

In Hoshiarpur, workers of the Municipal Corporation Safai Karamchari Union, including a large number of women workers, led by the union’s president, Karanjot Adiya, assembled at the Municipal Corporation complex before taking out a protest march through the city’s main bazaars on two-wheelers. The protesters carried black flags and brooms, wore black armbands and raised slogans against the Punjab government.