Punjab Police detains several farmer leaders ahead of ‘Chandigarh Chalo’ march by Samyukta Kisan Morcha

New Delhi: Ahead of the week-long protests planned by the Punjab wing of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), including a ‘Chandigarh Chalo’ march, police detailed several leaders of the union on Tuesday early morning.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann held a meeting with farmers on Monday night to discuss their farmers' demands. However, talks broke down midway while farmer leaders claimed that a "livid" Mann "walked out of the meeting in a huff without any provocation".

Denouncing protesting farmers, Mann said they have turned Punjab into a "state of dharnas" and caused huge losses to it.

He also alleged that they are trying to run a "parallel government" by promising to "resolve" issues of villagers.

Farmers claimed that soon after the meeting collapsed, police started raiding farmers' residences and detailed several of them.

“The police came to my house in Ferozepur at 3 am and took me under preventive arrest,” Gurmeet Singh Mehma, state general secretary of Krantikari Kisan Union, alleged in a widely circulated video message.

Farmers union had called for a weeklong protest including Chandigarh Chalo on Wednesday.

Condemning the police action, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha said the Punjab Police started raiding houses of farmers leaders across Punjab since Monday night and took several leaders into custody.

Meanwhile, the Chandigarh police issued an advisory, saying traffic movement on certain road stretches may be regulated on Wednesday to ensure smooth vehicular flow and public safety.

The SKM, which had led the 2020 agitation against the now-repealed three farm laws, is demanding the withdrawal of the Centre's draft of the National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing, a legal guarantee to minimum support price as per the Swaminathan Commission report, implementing the state's agricultural policy and purchase of six crops at MSP by the state government.

Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been holding a protest at Shambhu and Khanauri border points for the past one year in support of their various demands including a legal guarantee to MSP.