The workers were protesting the "hike in diesel prices, unsatisfactory power situation and deteriorating law and order situation" in Haryana under the regime of Om Prakash Chautala.

The police action came when the protesting workers, who were marching towards the Haryana Vidhan Sabha for its "gherao", tried to break the security cordon laid by the police at the Housing Board Chowk. The policemen issued repeated warnings to the workers to maintain calm and not to try and cross the barricades, but the Congressmen were in no mood to stop.

The police posse tried to stop the marching protesters from crossing the barricades, but when their efforts failed, they lobbed teargas shells and targeted them with water canon. This infuriated the protesters who resorted to brick-batting and hurled stones at the policemen, which resulted in a clash. The cops retaliated by resorting to a lathicharge, injuring many protesters.

The drama lasted for about 20 minutes, with lathi-wielding cops chasing the slogan-shouting Congressmen and shoving them into CTU buses parked nearby. In all, 23 shells of tear gas and 6 hand grenades were fired.

Over 1300 workers courted arrest to register their protests. The police had arrested them for threat to breach of peace under Section 107 and 151 of CrPC. They were later discharged by SDM (Central). At least five policemen and about 25 Congress workers, including five women were also injured in the melee. The injured cops were identified as Sub-inspector Gurnam Singh and head constable Mohan Singh of Chandigarh Police, constables Rajiv Kumar and Ashwani Kumar of Haryana Armed Police and a Home guard Ram Sarup.

The HPCC chief also received minor injuries, according to a Congress spokesman, who criticised the police authorities for its "mindless action". Earlier, a large number of Congress activists had gathered near the Parade Grounds in Sector 17 to gherao the Vidhan Sabha. The rally was addressed by Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Rajesh Pilot, who accused Chautala of "befooling" people of the state by making "false promises".

Pilot asked Chautala to clarify his party's stand on the issue of support to the central government even after hike in diesel prices. He said that the increase in price of diesel had badly affected the farmers, demanding that the hike be rolled back in the interests of farmers. "Chautala only believes in sweet talks but has nothing for the people of the state," he added. Others who addressed the gathering included Dharamvir, Jai Parkash and Prasanni Devi.