Farmer poses query to Punjab minister, arrested

A farmer leader was sent to judicial custody by an SDM court here, hours after he was taken into preventive custody by the police when he posed a question to Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian.

The incident had taken place during a district-level farmer training camp at the local grain market on Saturday.

The police said the arrested farmer leader, Nirmal Singh, did not seek bail, thus he was sent to judicial custody.

A lawyer said judicial custody is granted for a minimum of 14 days and a person can obtain bail by furnishing a bond in the court of an SDM during this period.

The arrested farmer leader is a resident of Jasseana village here and a member of the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta-Sidhupur), an outfit led by Jagjit Singh Dallewal.

The minister denied any role in his arrest. Speaking over the phone, he said, “A farmer union had even submitted a memorandum to me regarding hybrid paddy cultivation. While I was speaking, a farmer tried to create a scene. I even told him that he could speak to me later. I am ready to do whatever is within my ambit. Later, if the police detained him, I had no role in it.”

When the reply didn’t come, he criticised the minister, saying, “Why have you organised this training camp when you don’t want to answer it.”

Following it, he was taken into custody by the police under Sections 126 (security for keeping peace in other cases) and 170 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.

He also raised slogans condemning the state government for “muzzling the voice of farmers”.

A police officer pleading anonymity said Nirmal Singh had “tried to vitiate” the atmosphere at the programme when Khuddian was addressing the gathering. “Nirmal was taken into preventive custody. Later, the SDM court sent him to judicial custody,” the officer added.

During the event, Khuddian had appealed to farmers to adopt allied activities. He said farmers could increase their income by taking to horticulture, dairying, fish farming, poultry farming, flower cultivation, horse and cattle breeding. Cabinet Minister Baljit Kaur too had attended the event.

Meanwhile, some farmers slammed the police action. They gathered at the district administrative complex (DAC) here to lodge their protest against their leader’s arrest. Jagjit Singh Dallewal is also scheduled to come to Doda village here for a gathering of farmers on Tuesday.