Amritsar, March 22 — Four Himachal Pradesh Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses were damaged and defaced with ‘Khalistan’ slogans at Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) in Amritsar on Friday night.
The vandalism was discovered by locals and bus staff on Saturday morning. The windscreens of the buses were shattered, and ‘Khalistan’ was spray-painted in Punjabi on the front and sides. Police reached the terminal, removed the slogans, and registered an FIR against unknown persons.
The affected buses operated on the Amritsar-Bilaspur, Amritsar-Sujanpur, and Amritsar-Jwala Ji routes. “We were resting in our room at night. In the morning, we found the buses damaged, with their window panes broken, likely by stone pelting,” said HRTC conductor Kashmiri Lal.
This incident follows the March 18 vandalism of an HRTC bus (Chandigarh-Hamirpur) near Kharar, Mohali. In that case, Punjab police arrested Hardeep Singh of Rupnagar and Gagandeep Singh of Fazilka. Dal Khalsa activists had also pasted portraits of slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale on HRTC buses.
Amid rising tensions, HRTC indefinitely suspended services on 10 Punjab routes. Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has spoken to his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann regarding the matter.
The row comes after a recent confrontation in Manali, where locals objected to flags bearing Bhindranwale’s image displayed on motorcycles of tourists from Punjab. In video clips, locals and police were seen removing and trampling the flags. Manali police registered FIRs against the tourists for alleged rule violations and creating disorder. The action drew sharp reactions from Punjab, with Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj and SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami condemning the move.
