Farm leaders in Punjab detained, placed under house arrest ahead of PM’s rally

The farmers had gathered at Gurdwara Guru Arjan Dev situated along the National Highway on the outskirts of Gurdaspur but their march toward the rally venue was stopped by the police

Gurdaspur/Jalandhar

Police stop the farmers from moving towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally venue in Gurdaspur on Friday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

Ahead of the Gurdaspur rally, the farmers owing allegiance to the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) and other organisations were stopped by police from marching towards the rally venue.

The farmers had gathered at Gurdwara Guru Arjan Dev situated along the National Highway on the outskirts of Gurdaspur but their march toward the rally venue was stopped by the police. In Jalandhar ahead of the event, the district police placed as many as 25 leaders under house arrest on Friday morning.

Mukesh Chander, state secretary of BKU-Rajewal said they were detained in their house for four hours before they were released around 12 noon to hold peaceful protests on the outskirts of the Jalandhar city.

Farmers, later, gathered near the national highway, 4km away from the rally site, to protest against the Modi government. High-security arrangements were made with police barricading the whole area to restrict farmers from marching towards the rally site. A group of around 24 farmers managed to reach the BSF Chowk, just a kilometre away from the rally ground, but were detained by cops. They were released once PM Modi left the venue. HTC