Patiala, May 14
Farmers staged a massive protest outside the SSP office in Patiala on Wednesday against the alleged delay in action over stolen trolleys from the Shambhu border area and recent police action against farmer leaders.
The protesters alleged that trolleys worth more than Rs 3 crore were stolen from the Shambhu border protest site, but no concrete action has been taken so far. Farmer leaders said they wanted to raise the issue with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during his recent “Shukrana Yatra” in Patiala.
According to the protesters, several farmer leaders were detained by the police before the programme began, while some were later sent to jail. Farmers also raised objections to an alleged incident of misconduct involving a local journalist, a video of which surfaced on social media.
Farmer leaders said they had issued an ultimatum on May 11 demanding action. While the detained farmers were released recently, they claimed that no action had yet been taken against the DSP accused in the journalist misconduct case.
The protest leaders said talks were held with the SSP Patiala during the dharna. They added that the SSP assured them that steps would be taken regarding the stolen trolleys and that a departmental inquiry against the concerned DSP would be initiated soon.
Farmer leaders, including Gurdhian Singh of Kisan Union Bhateri Kalan and Harvinder Kaur Brar of Bharatiya Kisan Union Azad, addressed the gathering during the protest.
