Chandigarh, Dec 4 (PTI) Police on Saturday removed protesting outsourced Covid warriors from a Patiala highway, which they had allegedly blocked to demand regularisation of their jobs. The Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) criticised the police action, saying they were "brutalised" for demanding their just rights. The protesters had been staging a dharna on the highway near Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala since Friday. The protesters were briefly detained and the road they were blocking cleared, officials said. The SAD, however, claimed that some of the protesters received injuries. "The entire nation witnessed sacrifices of women Covid warriors. They worked 24/7 saving lives & managed their households too," SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal in a tweet. "It"s atrocious that they"re brutalised for demanding their just rights. If you@CharanjitChanni can"t resolve Pbis" issues, you"ve no right to continue as CM," said Badal. SAD senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema alleged that the "brutality" was unleashed on Covid health workers, including women. "They were lathi-charged and thrashed for demanding that the Congress government fulfil the promise made to them that their services would be regularised in view of the yeoman work done by them during the pandemic in the state," Cheema said in a statement. Cheema alleged the police lathicharged and injured many Covid warriors. "The police force resorted to sheer barbarism by manhandling women nursing and ancillary staff simply because they were reminding the Congress government of the promise made to them," said Cheema. PTI SUN RDK RDK