BARNALA, July 23 -- Violent clashes broke out between striking sanitation workers and police near SD College here on Wednesday during a cleanliness drive launched by the district administration, prompting a lathicharge and the preventive detentions of four workers. The sanitation workers in Barnala have been on strike since July 8, demanding job regularisation. With garbage piling up across the city and raising health concerns during monsoon, the administration and municipal corporation launched a drive to clear the waste. Tensions escalated when striking workers reached the site and allegedly tried to block the clean-up operation. Barnala DSP Satvir Singh said protesters pelted police personnel with stones, empty coconut shells, and trash. "They tried to stop the ongoing cleanliness work and started throwing stones and garbage at the police force. Two to three police officers sustained injuries, forcing us to use force to restore law and order," the DSP said. Gulshan Kumar, president of the Safai Karamchari Union, condemned the police action and alleged that the administration was resorting to force rather than addressing the workers' demands. Barnala municipal corporation mayor Hasan Bhardwaj urged the striking workers to prioritise public safety and resume work, saying that the state government had already agreed to most of their demands. Taking suo-motu cognisance of media reports about the clashes, the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK), in a letter to Punjab chief secretary KAP Sinha, called for an impartial inquiry and directed the DGP to submit a detailed report within seven days. HTC...