Chandigarh: Punjab police on Monday put under house arrest several leaders of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political), a day ahead of their scheduled protest at the Shambhu police station in Patiala district.
Terming the action as routine steps to maintain law and order, the police detained several leaders including Jagjit Singh Dallewal, at their houses in different and also put up special police check points on various highways and other roads in Faridkot, Ludhiana, Malerkotla, Khanna and other cities. Dallewal was put under house arrest in Faridkot district. Other senior farm leaders put under house arrest included Manjit Singh Rai and Davinder Singh.
It may be recalled that the SKM (non-political) had recently announced to hold a protest at Shambhu police station against what they held police action against farmers during the latter’s stir from Shambhu and Khanauri border protest sites in March, this year. They also demanded strict action against those who stole various belongings of the farmers’ which also included tractor trolleys. The farm leaders also rued that the police had assured the farmers that they would be compensated for their stolen belongings, yet nothing had been done in this regard.
For record, the police had detained several top farmer leaders on March 19, last, when they were returning from a meeting with the Central delegation led by agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Chandigarh and released later in subsequent days; the police had also evicted the protesting farmers simultaneously from Shambhu and Khanauri borders sites where they had been camping for the past over a year to press for their demands including the legal guarantee of the minimum support price for their crops.
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