Chandigarh:

A group of farmer leaders were detained by the Punjab police when they were on their way to join the ongoing farmers’ protest at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders. Those detained included Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal.

The farmers were detained from Mohali after a clash with the security forces. They were heading for the Shambhu border protest site after a meeting with a central delegation led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. 

The  police also removed farmers from the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu and Khanauri Borders and dismantled the temporary structures they erected. A number of farmers were detained from these areas as well. 

Punjab Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the action was taken as they want to open Shambhu and Khanauri borders.

We want to open Shambhu and Khanauri borders. The demands of the farmers are against the central government and they should stage a protest in Delhi or somewhere else but should not block the roads of Punjab,” Harpal Cheema said.

Farmers have been camping out at the border after they were stopped from going to Delhi with their demands.

Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi dubbed today’s detention an “attack” on the farm sector.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema also strongly condemned it, calling it a “highly undemocratic and illogical action that amounts to betrayal of the farm leaders”.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann must explain what happened after the meeting and who gave orders to arrest the leaders on way back, he said.

“It has exposed that Union government and the Bhagwant Mann government are hand-in-glove with each other. The SAD demanded immediate release of all farm leaders without delay,” Mr Cheema said.

The Central delegation’s meet with the farmers had remained inconclusive. Mr Chouhan said it took place in a “very positive environment”.