The situation remained tense in Bathinda and neighbouring districts on Friday as farmers under the banner of the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) attempted to march towards Bathinda city to stage a protest outside the District Administrative Complex (DAC), demanding the release of two of their activists arrested after a violent protest in January last year.

After a day-long effort to quell the protesters, the police resorted to lobbing teargas shells at the farmers near Rampura Phul on the Bathinda-Chandigarh National Highway in the evening.

Anticipating trouble, the police had already blocked key highways using trucks, detained several farmer leaders at their residences, and deployed heavy force at multiple points in the morning itself.

Some protesting farmers, including a few women, were detained in Bathinda and Barnala districts following the use of force later in the day. The protesting farmers during the day even made a DSP and a duty magistrate sit with them on the road for a brief period near Rampura Phul.

The protest stems from the arrest of two farmer activists, Baldev Singh Chauke and Shagandeep Singh Jeond, who have been lodged in Bathinda jail since April 5 last year.

They were arrested following a protest at Jeond village on January 20 last year that turned violent during land demarcation and consolidation proceedings being carried out as per the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

During the incident, a DSP and some other police personnel were injured after a mob allegedly held a team of revenue department personnel hostage when they reached the village. The protesting farmers claimed that, at the time, besides the land issue, they were also demanding the reinstatement of teachers at an Adarsh School in neighbouring Chauke village.

Notably, a meeting between farmer leaders and the district administration and police was held on Thursday in Bathinda regarding Friday’s protest, after which the union announced a state-level gathering at Bhucho Khurd village.

The farmers had warned that they would march to the DAC in Bathinda if talks over the release of the two activists failed. The farmers claimed that a senior officer from Chandigarh had also held a meeting with them.

However, in the wee hours of Friday, the police conducted raids at several locations and detained multiple farmer leaders at their residences. Angered by the action, the farmers accused the state government of “backstabbing” them and began holding meetings at various places before moving towards Bathinda.

They were stopped at several locations and, at some places, detained after the use of force, during which the turbans of some protesters were also dislodged.

A large contingent of police personnel was deployed across Bathinda and Barnala districts, with additional force called in from other districts as well. DIG Harjeet Singh (Bathinda range), DIG Kuldeep Chahal (Patiala range), and Bathinda SSP Jyoti Yadav remained present at Jethuke village near Rampura Phul to monitor the situation.

Despite police attempts to stop them, the farmers continued to move towards Bathinda, asserting that they were prepared to face police action. Jhanda Singh Jethuke, state vice-president of the union, alleged that the police had registered a “false” attempt to murder case in connection with last year’s Jeond incident.

“Both Shagandeep nor Baldev has been released even after nearly a year. Shagandeep was granted interim bail last month by the High Court for his mother’s cremation, but the police still hesitated to allow him to perform the last rites. We are protesting against the inhuman treatment by the police,” he said.

Meanwhile, the farmers’ agitation and police blockades led to traffic jams stretching several kilometres, with eyewitnesses claiming that even ambulances were stuck for a long time.

In the evening, a delegation of various unions, led by Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union’s state general secretary Lachman Singh Sewewala, met Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Rajesh Dhiman and handed over a memorandum seeking the unconditional release of the farmer leaders detained during the day and the resolution of the deadlock through talks.

Bathinda SSP Jyoti Yadav said, “We are repeatedly appealing to the farmers to resolve the issue through talks. A legal way can be found, and nothing can be solved through aggression. We held discussions with them throughout the day yesterday, but they did not respond positively.”