A large number of farmers led by Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday continued their sit-in at Sadar police station in Tohana at Fatehabad district demanding the release of two farmers.
The BKU leader who has been leading the protest in front of Tohana Sadar police station since Saturday night announced that the protest will continue till the arrested farmers are released.
The decision came after a marathon meeting between farmer leaders and the district administration failed to reach a consensus over the release of two farmer leaders -- Vikas Sisar and Ravi Azad -- arrested on Wednesday. They were arrested for surrounding the home of Tohana MLA Devendra Singh Babli of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which is allied with the ruling BJP.
Addressing a gathering outside the police station on Sunday, Tikait said the protesting farmers will not move from here till the time the fellow farmers are released. We are ready for court arrest. We have been telling the police to either arrest us also or release them, the BKU leader said.
The protesting farmers had earlier also sought registration of a case against MLA Babli for allegedly hurling abuses at them.
On Saturday, the MLA had apologised for abusive comments made during a spat with farmers last week while they were protesting the central farm laws.
Notably, Tikait, along with some other farmer leaders, had assembled at the grain market Tohana on Saturday night and then marched towards the police station.
He said that their agitation against the three central farm laws would continue till the government repeals the farm laws and enacts a law on minimum support price (MSP).
The BKU leader also reiterated that the government wants to shift the farmers' agitation centre point from Delhi borders to Haryana's Rohtak-Jind belt. This is a conspiracy and we will not allow the government to succeed, he alleged.
Babli had on June 1 faced a protest by a group of farmers who showed black flags to him and raised slogans. Babli had alleged that some of the protesters resorted to unruly behaviour and smashed the windscreen of his SUV.
Farmers, however, had accused Babli of publicly using abusive and threatening language.