E-Paper
Panchkula: Farmers protesting delay in paddy procurement face police lathicharge
Panchkula police say a few farmers tried to break the barricades and run over cops, which prompted them to use ‘minimal force’; members of both parties were injured
Farmers marching towards the residence of Panchkula MLA Gian Chand Gupta were lathicharged near the Chandimandir toll plaza on Saturday, as they tried to break the barricades with tractors.
Some farmers and around four policemen were injured in the clash.
The protesters had gathered near the toll plaza in response to farmer unions’ state-level call to gherao offices of local MLAs to protest delay in procurement of paddy.
Soon after the incident, Bharatiya Kisan Union president Gurnam Singh Charuni reached the spot and through a video message asked farmers to reach the Chandimandir toll plaza in large numbers.
He said, “The police have resorted to a brutal lathicharge in Panchkula, in which many protesters have suffered injuries. Protesters have also been taken into custody from two to three spots. I urge farmers who are nearby to immediately gather at Chandimandir toll plaza in large numbers.”
Asserting that the farmers had been protesting peacefully, the farm leader demanded an inquiry. However, the police said far from protesting peacefully, a few farmers had tried to run over cops with tractors in an attempt to break the barricades, which left a few policemen injured. “To stop them from causing more damage, police used minimal force,” they said in a statement.
In the evening, Karam Singh, unit president, BKU (Tikait) announced that the government had agreed to procure rice. The police released the detained farmers soon after, and the protesters, accompanied by Charuni, also vacated the site.
Panchkula commissioner of police Saurabh Singh said, “An FIR has been registered under relevant sections against the protesters who broke the barricades with tractors. A few policemen got injured as well. We have visuals of the incident and will take proper action against those involved.”
Farmers protest outside Punjab CM’s house in Mohali
In Mohali, protesting farmers held a protest outside Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s house in Kharar and also gheraoed the house of Congress MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu.
Heavy police force was deployed to stop them from gathering outside the CM’s house. Later, farmers handed over a memorandum to the naib tehsildar.
