Abhitesh
Security has been tightened in and around Chandigarh, and 4,000 paramilitary and police officers have been put on standby. At the same time, 16 farmer unions said they would move their protest for compensation for losses caused by floods this summer to Longowal in Punjab’s Sangrur, where protesting cultivators clashed with police on Monday.
The fight started when police tried to stop the cultivators from stopping a highway and a toll booth because some farm leaders had been arrested before a protest in Chandigarh. During the fight, a tractor-trolley ran over 70-year-old farmer Pritam Singh, killing him. Five police officers were also hurt.
Fifty-three farmers have been charged with trying to kill someone because of the fight and the way it made things worse before the protest. Farmers kept protesting near the Longowal police station. They wanted the police to be punished for using force in the home area of chief minister Bhagwant Mann.
Surendra Lamba, the head of police in Sangrur, said that a few farmer leaders incited protesters to break down barriers before they were broken down. “We haven’t filed a first information report (FIR) about the death yet. We are waiting for the farmer’s family to come forward and will take action based on what they say.”
cops said they were looking at videos of the fight to find out who else attacked cops. So far, 18 of the 53 people accused in the case have been named.
Lamba said that some Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) members tried to block the Sangrur-Barnala national highway and the Badbar toll plaza, but the cops wouldn’t let them. “They used tractor-trailers to force their way through barricades,” he said.
Pritam Singh’s leg was crushed by a tractor, and he died at a hospital in Patiala from his injuries. On social media, there was a video that seemed to show a farmer going under the back wheel of a tractor. Some farmers were seen telling the driver to stop, but he didn’t.
Police said that the farmer died because of the “responsible behaviour” of a few truck and bus drivers during the protest. Lamba said that some protesters used sticks to hit police officers.
Kuliwinder Soni Longowal, who is in charge of the BKU’s Ekta Azad group, said that the cops were to blame for the fight. He also said that cops were going to the homes of farmers and that several farm leaders were being held in preparation for the protest in Chandigarh. “We decided to hold a protest at the Badbar toll booth in order to get our leaders freed. We were marching to the toll booth when the cops attacked us.
Farmers’ groups have asked for 50,000 crore to make up for the damage caused by rains this summer.
The opposite The leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, blamed the death of the farmer on the AAP government. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he said, “The horrifying daylight murder of a poor, peacefully protesting farmer named Pritam Singh in Longowal has sent shock waves throughout the state, especially among the farmers.”
Partap Singh Bajwa, a leader of the Congress party, said that the AAP government was harsh for doing what they did. “Several farmers’ union leaders have been arrested, and raids are still going on to catch some other farmers’ union leaders,” he wrote on X.
Representatives from nine farmer groups in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand have planned a tractor rally in Chandigarh to ask the Union government to make up for the damage caused by the floods. Officials thought that about 10,000 farmers would take part in the protest.
At 27 places where people leave and enter the Union Territory, police from the Rapid Action Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Central Reserve Police Force, and the Chandigarh police were put in place.
Kanwardeep Kaur, the head of police in Chandigarh, said that the farmers would not be able to protest in the city no matter what. “So, we’re going to use as much force as we can to stop them. Farmers from Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and other states have said they will be here, so if we have to, we will close the important entrances and exits to keep law and order here. There will be enough people at the entrances from Mohali and Panchkula.”
A traffic cop said that if any entry or exit point is closed, routes will be changed right away. “We’ve met with police from neighbouring states to talk about how to work together, and we’ve asked them to stop farmers from marching to Chandigarh so that they don’t block more roads here.” “If the farmers make it here, we’ll block the roads right away, and we’ll keep a lot of people at the key spots,” the police officer said.
Banwarilal Purohit, the governor of Punjab and the head of Chandigarh, met with 11 members of farmer unions on Sunday. He told them he would take their concerns to the Union government.
Inspector-general Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that a lot of security measures have been put in place to keep law and order. The police have set up three levels of checkpoints in Mohali, which is close to Chandigarh.
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Surender Kumar Yadav, who is an assistant police commissioner in Panchkula, said that talks were going on with farmer leaders. “Farmers have told us that most of the people who take part will be from Punjab. There are plans in place to make sure that law and order don’t get messed up. At least three border areas next to Chandigarh will get fences.”
Farmers have said that if they are stopped, they will hold a sit-in and stop traffic. Since January 7, Qaumi Insaaf Morcha activists have been holding protests in Mohali, stopping traffic on the important road between Chandigarh and Mohali.
Farmers from Ambala and Kurukshetra would probably meet at the Shambhu toll on the border between Haryana and Punjab. At the border, police were on high watch, and more officers were going to be sent there. Farmers in Punjab have been stopping toll booths.
