Police did not fire on Dadri farmers: UP Govt

The government was intimated about the High Court order to make necessary security arrangements at the project site late on Friday night.

Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday denied that police fired on farmers protesting land acquisition for a Reliance project at Dadri in Ghaziabad.

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"There was no firing on the farmers," state Principal Secretary (Home) SK Agarwal told reporters in Lucknow.

The government was intimated about the High Court order to make necessary security arrangements at the project site late on Friday night and the District Magistrate of Ghaziabad also informed former Prime Minister VP Singh spearheading the agitation about it, he said.

The farmers allegedly indulged in brickbatting in which 35 policemen and five villagers suffered injuries on Friday night, he said evading that "this morning too, the farmers began throwing stones."

The senior official said Singh and Raj Babbar were taken into preventive custody at the border upon their entry into UP and kept at a guest house in Ghaziabad.

"The situation (in Bajhera Khurd village in Dadri) is peaceful," he added.