Punjab, March 4:
A day before the scheduled protest by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on March 5, Punjab Police carried out multiple raids at the residences of several farmer union leaders across the state.
According to sources, law enforcement agencies have been conducting operations in various regions over the past 12 hours. While some leaders have been taken into custody, others have reportedly gone underground to evade arrest.
Police Crackdown on Farmer Leaders
“Massive raids are underway to scuttle our protests, and over a dozen buses are waiting to round me and my supporters up,” said Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president of BKU Ekta Ugrahan.
“Let the Punjab government do whatever it wants, but I warn them the protest will go ahead despite the police crackdown,” he added.
A senior police official, speaking anonymously, confirmed that the raids were initiated following unsuccessful negotiations between the Punjab government and farmer unions on Monday.
“We have mobilized forces, and efforts are ongoing to arrest farmer leaders,” the officer stated.
Anticipated Action by Authorities
Farmer union leaders had foreseen such actions by the government ahead of the protests.
“Most of us were not home early in the morning when hundreds of cops arrived to arrest us. While some members were detained, many leaders were not present during the raids,” a union leader disclosed.
On Monday, a meeting between Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and SKM leaders ended abruptly. The meeting was organized by the Punjab government to address concerns raised by the farmer unions and persuade them to call off the protest scheduled for March 5.
However, SKM leaders accused the Chief Minister of dismissing their demands without proper discussion and pressuring them to cancel the demonstration.
One SKM representative stated that they had presented only eight out of their 18 demands before the Chief Minister interrupted and left the meeting.
Arrests and Police Presence in Villages
At the time of reporting, no senior police officials had officially confirmed any arrests. However, BKU (Krantikari) leaders reported that police had detained several of their members, including Balwant Mehraj, Ashok Bharti, Jarnail Kaleka, and Gurjeet Singh.
Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader Sarwan Singh Pandher condemned the crackdown, calling it an attack on democratic rights.
“Farmers want to protest peacefully, but the Punjab government is using the police to silence us. We will oppose any efforts to suppress our voices,” he said.
Pandher also criticized the government’s lack of action on Punjab’s worsening drug crisis, citing the alarming rise in youth addiction cases.
Reports also suggest that former BKU (Krantikari) block president Jagtar Singh has been taken into custody, with a heavy police presence observed in multiple villages since early morning.
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