The revenue patwaris of Dera Bassi tehsil on Friday launched an indefinite protest against Dera Bassi SDM Puneet Goel accusing him of misbehaviour. The agitation gained strength with the members of the local Bar Association and some staff of the SDM office also joining the dharna staged by the patwaris. The protesters raised slogans against Goel and sought his immediate transfer.

The SDM, however, refuted the allegations and attributed them to “misunderstanding”, claiming he would sort out the issue soon.

Following the strike, official work at the tehsil and SDM offices was disrupted and public faced great hardship.

The problem arose on November 4 when the SDM had marked patwari Jaspal Singh absent during duty hours. Jaspal, however, claimed that he was in the field to demarcate a plot on the orders of Dera Bassi Tehsildar Gurmandar Singh and when he came to know after returning that Goel had marked him absent, he tried to explain his position to him but he refused to listen.

Supporting the patwari, members of the Patwari Union, Bar Association, Typist Union and SDM office staff gathered outside the SDM office and staged a dharna, which began at 9 am and continued till 5 pm.

Dera Bassi Bar Association president Jasbir Chauhan accused the SDM of “misbehaving” with everybody and urged the Punjab Government to immediately transfer him at post, which does not require public dealing as he was “not competent” to deal with public.

The protesters have threatened to continue the protest if the SDM was not transferred.