Days after a violent protest in Bhatta-Parsaul village of Uttar Pradesh, two senior officials on Tuesday pitched in to clarify the issue, saying the state government is not against its farmers and the agitation was a handy work of some anti-social elements.
"The entire agitation was engineered by anti-social elements with illegally procured firearms. Life is getting back to normal in the village; the media can go there and verify it," said Rajnikant Mishra, the inspector general (IG) of police, Meerut range and the commissioner of police Bhuvnesh Kumar told reporters here.
They added, "Soon after the May 7 violence, a whole lot of people, including media persons, visited the area and no spot was tampered with. We have initiated confidence-building measures. Things will improve."
The commissioner and IG refused to comment when asked if the government would provide cash relief to the farmers killed and injured in clashes with police during the protest.
Asked if the administration would allow Rahul Gandhi if he tried to visit Bhatta-Parsaul all over again, the IG said: "Section 144 of the CrPC (banning assembly of people) has been clamped in the area. Any one would believe in the law of the land."
Reiterating that the agitation was not linked to land acquisition, the officials said: "The process of land acquisition in Bhatta-Parsaul got over in 2010 itself. Eighty % of the farmers had got compensation for their acquired land. We should not lose sight of the fact that the agitators kidnapped government officials four times, injured the district magistrate and the senior superintendent of police, besides killing two policemen."
{{/usCountry}}Reiterating that the agitation was not linked to land acquisition, the officials said: "The process of land acquisition in Bhatta-Parsaul got over in 2010 itself. Eighty % of the farmers had got compensation for their acquired land. We should not lose sight of the fact that the agitators kidnapped government officials four times, injured the district magistrate and the senior superintendent of police, besides killing two policemen."
{{/usCountry}}They said that three roadways employees were held hostage for 28 hours and the "agitators did not listen to the family members of those held hostage or us".
"When our officers reached the village, the agitators launched an attack without any provocation," the officials added.