Overview
- Sanitation workers called a state‑level bandh on Thursday that kept markets and many shops closed across towns including Barnala, Hoshiarpur, Sangrur, Tarn Taran and Samana.
- The protests follow a July 22 confrontation in Barnala where police used a lathi‑charge during a cleanliness drive and protesters say some workers were injured.
- Punjab police suspended Barnala Deputy Superintendent of Police Satvir Singh on July 24 and the state government has formed a special investigation team to probe the incident.
- Union leaders and Dalit organisations are pressing for FIRs under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, dismissal of the officers involved and fulfillment of municipal employees’ pending demands.
- Authorities kept hospitals and emergency services running and deployed heavy police at protest sites, raising the possibility that the probe outcome and union follow‑up actions could shape further statewide labour and caste rights mobilisations.