₹400 crore relief pending: Farmers block three highways for hours in Hisar

The farmers had been protesting outside the mini secretariat for the past 70 days demanding release of ₹400 crore from an insurance company as a compensation for their last year’s damaged crop

The Hisar police on Thursday stopped hundreds of farmers from reaching the city by putting barricades on three roads on the outskirts of the city.

Protesting farmers during a protest in Hisar on Thursday. (HT photo)

The farmers had been protesting outside the mini secretariat for the past 70 days demanding release of ₹400 crore from an insurance company as a compensation for their last year’s damaged crop. The police had to divert routes after farmers parked their tractor-trailers on Hisar-Rajgarh, Hisar-Delhi and Hisar-Badhra road. Commuters faced inconvenience due to the protest. The farmers blocked the highways for nearly five hours.

Suresh Koth, a farmer leader, said they had held a meeting with the district administration and gave 10 days to the administration to get the entire payment released. They said they would lift the dharna after their demands are met.

“We had given a call to gather in large numbers and the police stopped farmers from reaching the dharna site,” he added.

Hisar SP Ganga Ram Punia ordered suspension of policeman Jitender Kumar, who had misbehaved with farmers on Wednesday night and threatened them to clear the protest site.

Hisar deputy commissioner Uttam Singh said the insurance company had rejected 27,000 farmers’ applications, of which 3,000 have been given the compensation and the rest will get the amount in the next couple of days.