Dallewal, farmers detained ahead of BKU Ekta Sidhupur Kisan Panchayat

Lamenting Wednesday’s police action, Dallewal said police teams were deployed early in the morning near the residences of key union leaders, restricting their movement to prevent their supporters from gathering for the event

Ahead of a call for a Kisan Panchayat in Faridkot convened by the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) on Wednesday, police authorities detained several activists, including union’s president Jagjit Singh Dallewal, across south Malwa districts.

Police teams were deployed at various places in Bathinda, Mansa and Faridkot, where BKU volunteers were stopped. (HT FILE)

Police teams were deployed at various places in Bathinda, Mansa and Faridkot, where BKU volunteers were stopped.

According to information, several farmers, who were heading towards Faridkot, were taken into preventive custody.

The union has been staging protests in support of its demands, including compensation for families of two farmer brothers of Hari Nau village in Faridkot, who had died by suicide in March this year; implementation of a One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme in the Primary Co-operative Agricultural Development Banks (PADBs) on the lines of commercial banks and compensation for items allegedly stolen during the farmers’ protest at the Shambhu-Khanouri border.

Lamenting Wednesday’s police action, Dallewal said police teams were deployed early in the morning near the residences of key union leaders, restricting their movement to prevent their supporters from gathering for the event.

Union’s state vice-president, Kaka Singh Kotra, said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was trying to suppress a democratic protest and that the detention of BKU activists by the police was condemnable.