Police arrest several farm leaders hours before PM Modi’s rallies in Punjab

Police arrest several farm leaders hours before PM Modi’s rallies in Punjab
Gurdaspur: Barely hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi two rallies in Punjab, police raided houses and hideouts of half a dozen farm leaders in Gurdaspur and Jalandhar–across Nurmahal, Phillaur– and arrested a few of them.

Prime Minister Narandra Modi is scheduled to address a public meeting one in Gurdaspur at 3.30 pm and another in Jalandhar at 5.30 pm.

Peasants, like they did in Patiala yesterday, have threatened that they will not only disrupt the PM’s visit but have also decided to show black flags when he drives from the helipad to the rally venue, a distance of three kilometers.

In Gurdaspur, acting on specific tip-offs, the cops raided the residences of Sukhdev Singh Bhojraj, a member of the Kissan and Jawan Bhalai Morcha, Tarlok Singh and Satbir Singh Sultani, President and general Secretary of the of the Gurdaspur unit of the Kirti Kisan Union and trade union leader Makhan Kohar.

The raids were conducted late Thursday night and in the wee hours of Friday. No arrests have been made yet as the leaders, anticipating police action, had already left their houses. The leaders were kept abreast by their informers in the police, following which they managed to escape.

DIG (Border) Rakesh Kaushal, however, maintained that no raids were conducted. “We have opened channels of communication with the farm leaders and are negotiating with them to call off their protests,” he said.

There have been rumours since morning that Sarwan Singh Pandher, Coordinator of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, will be arriving in the city shortly. This, however, was denied by a senior police officer.

Throughout the day yesterday, the farm unions held secret meetings at undisclosed locations planning their next course of action. The 3 km stretch of road leading from the helipad to the rally site is being heavily guarded.

SSPs of the adjoining police districts of Batala, Pathankot, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar (Rural) are doing duty at the PM’s venue.

“We fail to understand as to why the police are trying to arrest us? We have already made it clear that we will protest peacefully,” said a senior leader.

Later in the day, two dozen farmers who arrived at Gurdaspur railway station from Amritsar were held and taken to a nearby police station. Also, 52 farmers, arrested from Paniyar village focal point, were taken to an undisclosed destination.

In Jalandhar and its periphery, at least half a dozen farm leaders have been detained by the police in early morning crackdowns amidst calls by farmer leaders to hold black flag protests ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Jalandhar later today.

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