Farmers’ stir: Cops use autos as barricades to divert traffic

Apparently short of barricades, the police used auto-rickshaws to divert traffic at Phase 7 light point in wake of a protest held by the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) on Friday.

Apparently short of barricades, the police used auto-rickshaws to divert traffic at Phase 7 light point in wake of a protest held by the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) on Friday.

Auto-rickshaws being used as a barricade at the Phase 7-8 light point during a protest by the Bhartiya Kisan Union in SAS Nagar on Friday.(HT Photo)

Though the auto- drivers alleged they were forced to stand still as barrier after the police threatened to challan them, the cops on duty said only those awaiting passengers at the stop were asked to make a line.

The auto drivers also said they couldn’t pick passengers owing to the diverted traffic.

The farmers held the protest demanding waiving of the debt, which, they claimed, was the main reason for the farmers’ suicides in the state.

The protest march was to be held from Gurdwara Amb Sahib, Phase 8, to Vidhan Sabha, but they were stopped by the police on the Chandigarh-SAS Nagar border.

Senior police officials expressed ignorance about the same. Majority of cops were deployed on security duty at the PCA stadium in SAS Nagar.