Agitated residents of Jansua village, near Rajpura, blocked vehicular traffic on the Chandigarh-Patiala Highway for over three hours on Wednesday morning, seeking the closure of the liquor vends and some lottery shops located on the highway.

The villagers were protesting the death of a drunken youth Kala Singh (35) after being hit by a truck, near a liquor vend on the highway. While the police carried out a post mortem of the deceased, the villagers refused to cremate his body till the liquor vend and lottery stalls situated near the village were shut. Kala is survived by his wife and two children.

While commuters bore the brunt of the huge traffic jam on the busy road, police and civil officers tried to disperse the mob. The blockade was lifted only after the shops were ordered to be shut. Incidentally, the liquor vend and lottery shops are recognised by the Punjab government.

“The villagers, especially the youth, keep sitting in the lottery shops all day long and get drunk by evening, while their families keep waiting. This situation is ruining the lives of families here,” rued Amrik Singh, a resident. Sources said villagers were also protesting as their village was not receiving the benefits of the government’s Atta-Dal scheme. Rajpura SDM and the DSP reached the spot and assured villagers of action.