The State Government on Wednesday managed to sabotage the proposed farmers’ rally in front of the State Assembly on Wednesday by using police who detained the peasants at various parts of the State and prevented them from attending the rally convened by the Navanirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS).
Tension ran high at several places as the agitating farmers were dragged to police vans in Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Puri, Kendrapada, Keonjhar, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar reportedly in a bid to foil the agitation citing law and order reason.
Police personnel were seen halting buses and other four wheelers coming towards Bhubaneswar and checking presence of NKS members. Even Section 144 of CrPC was clamped at the Hi-Tech Square on NH 16 on the city outskirts, the entry point to Bhubaneswar, where a majority of arrests were executed.
“The farmers’ body had sought permission to organise a rally from Hi-Tech Square to lower PMG. They were not allowed for the same as the rally will cause traffic problem. However, they remained firm on the decision for which we detained them,” said Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrata Bhoi.
The city was fortified with 50 platoons of force deployed at various vantage points, including prime entry and exit points, bus stands and railway stations, to prevent the protestors to enter Bhubaneswar. As such, the demonstration could not take place as the activists were detained before they were to congregate at the venue. Protesters also were indulged in a minor scuffle with police at the PMG Square, Vani Vihar Square, Rasulgarh Square and Hi-Tech Square. Protesting the police action, the agitators staged road blockades.
NKS advisor Soumya Ranjan Patnaik who was arrested from Hi-Tech Square decried the police action and alleged that the Naveen Patnaik Government was making an attempt to stifle the farmers’ voice with police force.
On Tuesday, around 100 farmers were detained at Cuttack and Jajpur railway stations who had boarded trains to attend the Bhubaneswar rally. Besides, around 40 NKS members were also taken into preventive custody from Bhubaneswar railway station who had come to the city for the rally.
Earlier on Monday, the Commissionerate Police had arrested two NKS frontline leaders, Akshaya Kumar and Shesadeb Nanda, in an apparent bid to foil the proposed stir.
The NKS had earlier announced to resort to mass agitation demanding
price, pension and prestige for farmers.