Angry farmers in Buxar district of Bihar on Wednesday set on fire a police van and vandalised government vehicles after a late-night police crackdown against a group of protesting farmers, reported news agency ANI. The farmers have been demanding better rates for their land which is being acquired by the state government for the Chausa Power Plant.
Locals alleged that police had entered a farmer’s house on Tuesday night and thrashed him. CCTV footage aired by media channels showed a group of policemen getting inside a room and attacking people, including women.
A video recorded on a cell phone from inside the room shows policemen barging inside the house and thrashing people around. Farmers allege that the attack was done on the orders of Amit Kumar, a senior officer at the Mufassil police station, who was responding to a acting on a complaint by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) power plant.
Buxar Superintendent of Police Manish Kumar said today that people have vandalised the power plant, and police is trying to bring the situation under control.
The farmers said that they have been protesting peacefully against the company to give them fair rates for the lands that was purchased from them 12 years ago.
The SJVN began construction of a 1320 mega watt coal power plant in Chausa last year.