CHANDIGARH: Punjab Police in an intensive operation against agitating farmers today removed the farmers from Khanauri and Shambhu borders and demolished all structures raised by farmers and shifted the tractor trolleys to an alternative place.
The heavy police force today evening cracked down on farmers and arrested senior farmer leaders including Jagjit Singh Dallewal who is sitting on fast unto death and Swaran Singh Pandher. The farmers had started agitation on February 13, 2024.
The farmers had raised many permanent structures on the roads connecting Chandigarh and Patiala with Delhi. When police swooped on farmer morchas, the strength of farmers was not enough to resist the police action. The senior farmer leaders had gone to attend a meeting with the Union ministers at Chandigarh to discuss their demands. The farmer leaders were arrested while returning from the meeting. The police made an appeal to farmers to leave the place or face police action.
Nanak Singh SSP Patiala said that police would clean the borders tonight and open the roads by morning. He said that roads are also closed from Haryana side and it is up to Haryana police to open the blockade.
The police has removed Guru Granth Sahib from the morcha sites at Shambhu and Khanauri. The office of Bharti Kisan Union was also demolished.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had earlier warned the farmers against holding dharna on Punjab bordrs. He had foiled the farmer's action of holding dharna at Chandigarh on March 5 and police detained the farmers in resective districts. Now Samyukt Kisan Morcha had given call to ghearo Chandigarh on March 26.