Protesting farmers and police came face to face in Mukerian on Saturday when the latter used force to lift the dharna from the Jalandhar-Pathankot highway and detained a large number of farmer leaders and activists. The farmers have been demonstrating in front of the Mukerian sugar mill since Friday to press for their demands.
The district administration had appealed the protesters to lift the blockade on Friday itself but the farmer leaders remained adamant, stating they would continue with the sit-in till all sugar mills turned operational and the state agreed price (SAP) of sugarcane was raised to ₹450 a quintal. The farmer leaders had a heated argument with senior superintendent of police (SSP) Surender Lamba over the issue.
Many of these leaders, including Amarjit Singh Rara, Kamalpreet Singh Kaki, Gurpartap Singh and Satnam Singh Baghrian, were taken in custody today in the presence of the SSP. They were ferried in buses to an undisclosed place. During the melee, Satnam Singh’s turban fell off. He said the government would have to pay the price of the insult it inflicted on farmers.