Chandigarh: Man climbed 60-meter tower in Sector 17 and demands meeting CM Punjab

There was drama in Chandigarh’s Sector 17 for five hours from 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday when a man climbed a 200-meter tower demanding a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Police and fire brigade personnel brought the man, Vikram Singh, hailing from Haryana’s Jind district, safely down from the tower located in the parking lot between the police station and the bus stand in Sector 17 around 1.30 p.m.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (Central) Gurmukh Singh said he was in regular contact with Vikram over phone and finally convinced him to reach the spot with the help of fire brigade personnel.

He said that Vikram was involved in a long-running land dispute in Mansa district of Punjab and wanted to present his case to Chief Minister Mann for a speedy resolution.

Vikram claimed that he visited Mansa and Jind police stations several times to lodge a complaint in this regard, but he was not heard. He hoped that Mann’s intervention would speed up action.

DSP Gurmukh Singh assured Vikram over the phone that he had spoken to the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) with the Punjab Chief Minister and that his case would be taken up. The DSP also promised to take Vikram to the Prime Minister’s residence.

After being safely brought down from the tower, Vikram was taken for medical examination. The Chandigarh Police then escorted him to CM Mann’s residence in Sector 3. Though Mann was not available, the OSD assured CM Vikram that the meeting would be arranged within one to two days.

Police revealed that Vikram initially tried to climb towers at other places in Chandigarh, including one at the bus stand in Sector 43, but they were locked. He finally found an available tower in Sector 17.