As farmers stay put at the Punjab-Haryana borders amid the ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation, the Haryana Police barricaded the Delhi-Chandigarh highway (National Highway-44) near Shahbad in Kurukshetra district, with nails being laid out across arterial roads.
Visuals from the area showed heavy police along with the presence of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF). Police present in the area told Financial Express Online that they have received orders from top officials to seal the area.
The placement of barricades at various locations has thrown normal life out of gear.
Some pictures from NH-44 near Shahbad:
Mobile internet services restored in 7 districts of Haryana
Meanwhile, almost two weeks after they were suspended in the wake of farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation, mobile internet services were restored in seven Haryana districts on Sunday.
Services were suspended in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad, and Sirsa starting from February 11. This suspension was subsequently prolonged on February 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, and 24.
Farmer’s ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation paused till Feb 29
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation, demanding Centre to include a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops, loan waiver, implementation of Swaminathan Commission’s report, among others.
Since February 13, farmers from Punjab participating in the protest have been stationed at Shambhu and Khanauri points along the state’s border with Haryana after their march was halted by security forces. They intend to remain at these border points until February 29, when the next course of action will be determined, as stated by farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Friday.
Following clashes at Khanauri resulting in the death of a youth protester and injuries to around 12 police personnel, farmer leaders decided on Wednesday to temporarily suspend the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march for two days.