- विज्ञापन -
New Delhi: The internet was shut down at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders in Punjab following the detention of prominent farmer leaders, Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher. This action came after talks between the Centre and farmer representatives failed to reach a resolution, prompting farmers to head towards the Shambhu border to continue their protests.
As farmer leaders were en route to the Shambhu border following the inconclusive talks, their convoy was stopped by Punjab Police in Mohali, where they were detained. The police then began evacuating protesting farmers from both the Shambhu and Khanauri border points, which had been the sites of ongoing protests related to farm laws and other issues.
The situation intensified later in the evening when the police initiated a forceful operation to clear the protest sites. By 9:30 p.m., both borders were cleared. To avoid further confrontation, Mandeep Singh Sidhu, the DIG of Patiala Range, addressed the remaining protesters, urging them to leave voluntarily. He told them, “We are over 3,000 strong, and you are only a few hundred. We need to clear these sites, no matter what. Your leaders have already been detained in Chandigarh, and we do not want to use force. Please board the buses willingly.”
After evicting farmers who had been staging a sit-in protest for over a year and had raised temporary structures on two crucial borders linking Punjab with Haryana, the police used bulldozers to remove the concrete barricades to restrict the movement of farmers.
In a major crackdown, after detaining several union leaders, including Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher, on Wednesday evening, the Punjab Police used mild force to disperse those gathered at the Shambhu and Khanauri protest sites on the Punjab-Haryana border. Late in the night, the Haryana Police removed preventive barricades. However, the highway on both the border points is still shut. The police, who faced mild resistance, detained over 300 protesters, including the 28-member delegation, hours after the third round of talks with the Central government panel ended in Chandigarh.
At the meeting, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reiterated the Centre’s commitment to the welfare of farmers. The next meeting is scheduled for May 4. The national highways had been blocked since February 13, 2024, for traffic. After whisking away the protesters, the police have been removing tractor-trailers parked both at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders. While 200 farmers were detained at Khanauri, and over 100 were held at Shambhu.
