Power crisis leads to violent clash
Villagers open fire, 5 hurt
Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Karnal, June 25
The worsening power crisis that has gripped Haryana took an ugly turn here today when residents of Gharibaral village in Gharaunda of Karnal district opened fire on villagers of Barana village in Panipat injuring five persons. Residents of Gharibaral village had allegedly set up a cross-connection for drawing power to which the residents of Barana village objected.

Tension mounted in the twin villages yesterday and the SDO and SHO rushed to the spot and solved the situation.

Today, villagers of Barana again objected to the unauthorised drawl of power by residents of Gharibaral village and during the argument one of them opened fire injuring five persons. Krishan, Jitender, Sachin, Shahjdeed and Kuldeep of Barana villge, who received injuries, were rushed to a hospital. While Shahjdeed was admitted to the trauma centre in Karnal, four others were rushed to Panipat.

Additional DSP Ved Prakash reached the spot and pacified the villagers. The situation was tense but under control, he said. The police had been deployed to avoid any untoward incident and efforts were underway to bring rapprochement among warring groups.