SKM suspends Chandigarh march for now

SKM leaders mentioned they may resolve the following plan of action in a gathering on March 7 in Ludhiana.

Police put up a number of checkpoints throughout the state and safety was stepped up in any respect entry factors of the Union Territory. The police motion got here after talks between the Punjab authorities and SKM leaders broke down halfway on March 3 after CM Bhagwant Mann “walked out of the assembly in a huff” and blamed the farmer unions for turning Punjab right into a ‘dharna state’.

The SKM, a conglomerate of greater than 30 farmer our bodies, had given the decision for the sit-in in Chandigarh in help of farmers’ varied calls for together with the acquisition of six crops at minimal help value by the state authorities.

Farmers, who left for Chandigarh in tractor-trolleys and different automobiles on Wednesday morning, had been stopped by the Punjab Police at many locations on the highways and different roads.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan, who was detained and later launched within the night, mentioned that the Chandigarh morcha has been suspended for now.

“A gathering of SKM is scheduled to happen on March 7 to debate the following plan of action,” Ugrahan mentioned after his launch from detention. BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) normal secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan knowledgeable: “SKM assembly will likely be held in Ludhiana.”

Ugrahan mentioned they’re ready for the discharge of the opposite detained farmers. “Round 32 folks from Sangrur had been detained, however we’ve obtained info that the orders for his or her launch have already been issued. In the meantime, we are going to proceed our protests on the facet of the roads the place the farmer teams have been stopped by the police,” he mentioned.

Veteran farm chief, Balbir Singh Rajewal, who was detained, has additionally been launched.

Ugrahan mentioned he was detained on the Ladda Police Coaching Centre from 12 pm to six pm.

“A crew from the Sangrur police, led by SP (D) Palwinder Singh Cheema apprehended me after monitoring my telephone. It was my mistake, as I forgot to go away my telephone at residence,” he mentioned.

DIG Patiala vary Mandeep Sidhu mentioned all people detained prior to now two days will likely be launched by tomorrow afternoon.

The SKM, in a press release, mentioned that farmers didn’t block any highway or rail as claimed by CM Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday.

“No regulation and order drawback was created on the behest of farmer organisations. The general public confronted visitors snarls in Chandigarh and throughout the state, not as a result of farmers however the unwarranted restrictions imposed by the Punjab Police and administration,” it mentioned.

In the course of the day in Sangrur, activists of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), numbering round 2,000, had been stopped by police in Gharachon village. Individually, a convoy of round 1,000 farmers from varied unions, together with BKU (Ekta-Dakaunda), BKU (Dakaunda), and BKU Kadian), had been stopped by police on the Badbar toll plaza close to Barnala on Nationwide Freeway-7.

Farm chief Jethuke provides cops the slip

Within the Malwa belt, police put up barricades at varied areas within the Mansa, Bathinda and Faridkot districts.

Deputy inspector normal (DIG), Bathinda vary, Harjeet Singh, mentioned: “On Tuesday night time, we tried to take BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) chief Jhanda Singh Jethuke into preventive custody, however he managed to flee. Groups try to find him,” the DIG mentioned.

Faridkot SSP Pragya Singh mentioned area groups have been instructed to make sure that nobody tries to disrupt the motion of automobiles.

“Particular groups have been deployed elsewhere to regulate the protesters. Persons are being detained to take care of peace,” she mentioned.

DIG (Ropar Vary) Harcharan Singh Bhullar mentioned the protesting farmers wouldn’t be allowed to succeed in Chandigarh at any value.

“Wherever any farmer got here out (on roads), the police of that space stopped them there itself. They had been sitting there peacefully,” Bhullar mentioned.

In Moga, Krantikari Kisan Union district president Jatinder Singh mentioned they had been stopped at Ajitwal by police, and some of the activists had been detained by the police. In Samrala, Patiala and Moga, cops prevented farmers from shifting to Chandigarh. At Kharar, 15km away from UT, police personnel had been deployed on the Bhago Majra toll plaza. At Samrala, police halted round 300 farmers travelling in tractors, trolleys, and different automobiles on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh Freeway. Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) chief Sarwan Singh Pandher additionally got here out in help of SKM and staged protests throughout the state.

SKM chief Raminder Singh Patiala dubbed the Punjab authorities’s motion towards farmers as an “undeclared emergency”.

“The Bhagwant Mann authorities has proven that it’s rattled and tried to suppress farmers’ motion. It’s our constitutional proper to lift our voice in Chandigarh,” mentioned Patiala.

With inputs from HTC, Ludhiana