BAGALKOT: The protest by sugarcane farmers in the district demanding Rs 3,500 a tonne took a violent turn on Thursday with the protesters torching nearly 100 sugarcane-laden tractors parked outside Godavari sugar factory in Sameerwadi village of Mudhol taluk.
According to reports, the incident flared up after several farmers, ready to supply sugarcane to the factory, started taking out tractors towards the factory. This irked the protestors, who had earlier called a bandh on Thursday, and started marching towards Sameerwadi. In the village, an argument broke out between the two groups which escalated with throwing stones and torching of the parked tractors.
Videos of the tractors in flames went viral on social media. While there were no confirmed reports of the exact number of tractors that were burnt, unconfirmed reports suggested that at least a hundred vehicles were set on fire, and several motorcycles parked nearby were damaged in the fire. Fire and emergency personnel rushed to the spot to douse the fire.
Some farmers lost entire crop
Many farmers incurred heavy losses as their entire crop were destroyed. “We are also farmers and today we incurred heavy loss because of our own people. What is the point of torching our tractors? The farmers should have held protests outside the factories instead of torching sugarcane-laden tractors. This is not good at all. Who will now compensate for this heavy loss. The factories will not do it,” said Sharvankumar Bhadrashetty, a sugarcane farmers.
Some people were reportedly injured in the incident and they were later admitted to Mahalingapur government hospital.
Meanwhile, the Mudhol bandh was complete on Thursday. Shops and commercial establishments extended support to the bandh.