More than 160 protesting farmers arrested in Noida

Noida: Police on Tuesday arrested more than 160 protesting farmers, including the president of Bharatiya Kisan Parishad Sukhbir Khalifa, who were holding a sit-in at the ‘Dalit Prerna Sthal’ here after their march to Delhi on land compensation and other demands was stopped a day earlier.

The protesters had gathered from different parts of Uttar Pradesh on Monday on the call of Samyukta Kisan Morcha and had threatened to resume their march to the national capital if their demands were not met within seven days.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shiv Hari Meena said that they arrested more than 160 protesters at around 1.30 pm under Section 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The provision allows the police to carry out arrests to prevent the commission of a cognisable offence. Among the arrested were women and several farmer leaders like Khalifa and Pawan Khatana the state president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Western Uttar Pradesh), according to the police.

The protesters were taken to the Luksar jail in Noida, officials said. Khalifa told PTI on phone that they will continue to fight for their “just demands”. Slamming the arrest of farmers, the Bharatiya Kisan Union led by Naresh Tikait has called a panchayat in Muzaffarnagar. Massive traffic snarls had caused inconvenience to commuters crossing the Delhi-Noida border as police had set up multiple layers of barricades and deployed heavy security to stop the march, which coincided with Parliament’s Winter Session.

Slamming the arrest of agitating farmers in Noida, Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Tuesday warned that the ongoing protest led by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha “would turn into a nationwide agitation of farmers”.

Tikait asserted that the moment the farm leaders of Gautam Buddh Nagar call for help, “we will immediately respond”. The BKU leader, who was in Iglas here on Tuesday in connection with a private function, was speaking to media persons.

He said that the Gautam Buddh Nagar protest has been put off till December 9 to give the government some time to resolve this long-standing dispute between farmers in that district and the authorities which had been continuously delaying the process of payment of full compensation as envisaged by the Land Acquisition Act 2013.