257 farmers booked for blocking highway at Chandimandir

Amit Bathla

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, August 30

The police have booked seven farmer leaders and their 250 “unidentified supporters” for blocking the Panchkula-Shimla highway at the Chandimandir toll plaza on August 28 to protest lathicharge on farmers in Karnal.

Those named in the FIR included Gurjant Singh, Bhim Singh, Gurmail Singh, Narender Singh, Taranjeet, Sumitra Dahiya and Rajwinder Kaur.

Rajwinder Kaur (80) is one of the two women, and the eldest among those booked by the police. They have been charged under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 143 (unlawful assembly), 145 (joining or continuing in unlawful assembly, knowing it has been commanded to disperse), 147 (rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 283 (obstruction in public way), 341 (wrongful restraint), 431 (mischief by injury to public road, bridge, river or channel) of the Indian Penal Code and section 8B of the National Highway Act.

The police registered the FIR at the Chandimandir police station on a complaint of a police official deployed for maintaining law and order at the toll plaza.

“Farmer leaders, along with their 200-250 supporters, blocked the national highway, affecting traffic movement. I, along with my fellow policemen, tried to persuade them to allow free flow of traffic but they remained adamant and obstructed public servant in discharge of duty,” the FIR read, quoting the policeman.

Rajwinder Kaur, while speaking with the Chandigarh Tribune, said: “The FIR is a shameful act. Can a woman of my age cause damage to public property or lead to riots? We will continue to protest until the protesters arrested in Karnal are released.’”

“Such actions can’t stop us from speaking what is right. We are even ready to die for our generations to come,” she added.

Narender Singh, a Bharatiya Kisan Union leader, said: “No one was hurt, neither was public property damaged during the protest. The protest was peaceful, but the police booked us on serious charges, including criminal conspiracy and rioting.”

Sumitra Dahiya (59), one of the two woman protesters booked by the police, said: “We have a right to hold a peaceful protest. The FIR filed against us is illegitimate. We have videographic evidence that our protest was non-violent.”

Sub-Inspector Raj Kumar, who is the investigating officer in the case, said they were gathering videographic evidence to initiate action against farmer leaders and the protesters.

On August 28, hundreds of farmers blocked the Panchkula-Shimla highway at the Chandimandir toll plaza for over four hours to protest lathicharge on a group of farmers in Karnal, causing heavy traffic jams.