CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI: The Haryana Police have booked farmers for allegedly constructing concrete structures and digging a borewell near Singhu towards Kundli on National Highway-44.
The Singhu border near Delhi is the venue where hundreds of farmers have congregated in protest against the farm laws. Sources said the state police have registered two cases against the farmers.
The first has been registered under the National Highway Act and Sections 283 and 431 of the IPC on the complaint of Anand Sharma, NHAI project director.
Sharma has stated that “some unidentified people” have put up illegal structures on NH-44 in front of Malwa Motors, obstructing NH-44. He had sent pictures of the illegal construction to the police.
The second case has been registered under the National Highway Act and Section 188 of the IPC on the complaint of Pawan Kumar, secretary Municipal Committee, Kundli.
He has alleged that despite the ban order, farmer Karam Singh of Bathinda has dug a borewell in a field near the KFC Mall near NH-44.
He did not stop digging when the municipal engineer told him to. Harinder Singh Lakhowal, general secretary of BKU (Lakhowal), said, “We are not constructing any permanent structure. We plan to install solar panels to save the farmers from the summers”.
Labourers can be seen constructing permanent structures on the roadside at various places at Singhu border. There are four double-storey houses which are being built at the border. The masons have come from Punjab. Farmers at the protest sites in Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur are much fewer in number as many have returned to their villages for harvesting. “Many have gone back to their villages, the main reason being commencement of harvesting season.
If we do not harvest our crops, then this agitation will not sustain, so that is on priority. But few days after Holi the crowd will swell at the protest site” said a BKU member.
Small wood pyres for ‘Holika dahan’ have been set up to celebrate Holi at the end of the month.
Elections in West-Bengal have become the talking point amongst the groups, with farmer leader Rakesh Tikait in the state asking the people to vote against BJP.
“The government has not provided power connections. We need to use small fans for which we use solar panels as the energy source,” said farmer Rahul from Western UP.