Bathinda: 2 of nine farmers who ‘forced’ official to burn stubble nabbed

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, November 7

The Bathinda police on Monday arrested two of the nine farmer named in the case of taking a government official hostage and forcing him to set fire to stubble in Mahima Sarja village of the district on November 3.

Protesters announce indefinite stir

• Farm leaders held a meeting with police officials at Circuit House, in which IGP Jaskaran Singh and SSP Gulneet Singh were present
• The protesters claimed that the meeting had no positive outcome, so they announced an indefinite stir outside the police station

The arrested farmers have been identified as Surjit Singh and Swaraj Singh, both residents of Nehianwala. The seven remaining farmers are still absconding. Police teams are conducting raids to arrest them.

Surjit is the head of the block unit of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Sidhpur) and Swaraj is a worker of the union.

At the time of the arrest of the suspects, around 60 farmers staged a protest at the village and they were also detained by the police on Monday night.

Irked over the incident, more farmers today staged a protest outside the Nehianwala police station.

Bathinda SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana said: “Farmers who were staging protest were detained briefly and have been released.”

Farm leaders also held a 4-hour meeting with police officials at circuit house, in which IGP Jaskaran Singh and SSP Gulneet Singh were also present. Farmers claimed that the meeting did not lead to any positive outcome, due to which they announced an indefinite stir outside the Nehianwala police station.

Taking cognisance of a viral video in which a government official was allegedly forced to burn paddy straw by a mob, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had on Saturday ordered the registration of an FIR against “the perpetrators of this heinous crime”.

Farmers of Nehianwala village in Bathinda had stopped a flying squad and forced the nodal officer to set paddy stubble on fire in their fields.