Stones pelted, tear gas shells fired as farmers' protest in Bathinda turns violent

Farmers assembled in Jeond village under the banner of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) to hold a protest outside the Bathinda District Administrative Complex to demand the release of two farmers arrested last year.

Bathinda/Patiala: Police on Wednesday lobbed tear gas shells to control a group of farmers after they allegedly pelted stones at police personnel during a protest in Punjab's Bathinda to demand the release of two farmers arrested last year, officials said.

They said several protesting farmers were detained.

Farmers assembled in Jeond village under the banner of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) to hold a protest outside the Bathinda District Administrative Complex.

Ahead of the protest, heavy police deployment was made in and around Bathinda and neighbouring districts to prevent the protesters from proceeding towards the Bathinda District Administrative Complex.

Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jyoti Yadav Bains said the "mob" was pelting stones from rooftops at police.

"The mob showed aggression, but we contained it. The situation is under control," said Bains.

A protesting farmer, however, claimed that police personnel used tear gas shells and pelted them with stones without any provocation. Holding a protest is a democratic right, he said.

He also accused police of raiding the residences of farmer leaders to take them into custody in the wake of the protest call.

The BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) had called Wednesday's protest to seek the release of farmers Shagandeep Singh Jeond and Baldev Singh Chauke, who were arrested during a protest last year and have been lodged in Bathinda jail since April.

In Patiala's Samana, several farmers heading towards Bathinda to join the protest were stopped by police near Gajewas village on the Samana-“Bhawanigarh road, with soil-laden tipper trucks parked across it.

Some farmers scuffled with police personnel near a gurdwara in Samana after the protesters were stopped from proceeding further.

Farmers claimed that they were on their way to hold a peaceful protest outside the Bathinda District Administrative Complex, but police stopped them and detained several protesters.