Four farmer leaders involved with the preparations for the tractor rally on Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway from Nuh in response to a call from Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a joint front of farmer unions, were detained by the Nuh police on Thursday preventing the holding of the rally.
The proposed tractor rally from Nuh’s Rewasan village to Palwal on the expressway was part of the five batches of tractors scheduled to march around Delhi on the Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressway in protest against the three farm laws.
The Nuh police team picked up All-India Mewati Samaj president Ramzan Chaudhary from his house around 8 a.m. and took him into preventive custody. “First, they took me to City Police Post and later to Nalhar police station. Later in the evening, they took me in preventive custody and produced before the Sub-Divisional Magistrate court,” said Mr. Chaudhary. Another social activist and farmer leader, Umar Padla, claimed that a police team reached his house in the morning and stayed there till around noon preventing him from going outside.
‘Barricades placed’
“The police had been calling me for the past few days seeking details of the proposed tractor rally,” he claimed. Two more farmer leaders, Azad Kheri and Rashid Advocate, were taken to the local police stations and let off in the evening, said Mr. Padla. Salamudeen Meo, president, Mewat Vikas Sabha alleged that the police had put barricades at several intersections, including Badkali Chowk, and did not allow the farmers to come out on the Gurugram-Alwar Highway (NH-248A) to reach the KMP.
“Around a dozen tractors from each of the six blocks were scheduled to be part of the march, but the police did not allow it. Eventually, around 30 people in half-a-dozen cars reached Palwal from Nuh to express solidarity with the farmers,” said Mr. Meo.
Swaraj India national president Yogendra Yadav also tweeted around noon about the detention of Mr. Chaudhary and warned the government against any ill-treatment against him.
Narendra Bijarniya, SP, Nuh, said that only Mr. Chaudhary was detained. “Umar was at his house all day because of some tragedy in the village and Azad came to the police station on his own and then went back a few hours later. Rashid came with a few tractors from Punhana, but he did not have the plan [of the march] and was sent back,” said Mr. Bijarniya.
Meanwhile, another batch of tractors scheduled to march on KMP from Dhasa border to Manesar also altered its plan in the morning to go towards Tikri border.
