BKU leader Rakesh Tikait was detained by the Aligarh Police on Wednesday while traveling to Greater Noida to attend a meeting with farmer leaders, according to a police official. Tikait and his supporters were stopped on the Yamuna Expressway and taken to the Tappal police station in a bus.
An Aligarh Police spokesperson confirmed that Tikait had been “detained,” but not arrested. Tikait spoke to the media, saying the police were blocking farmers from traveling to Noida in Gautam Buddh Nagar and were forcing them to stay at home. He asked, “How long will you detain us? If you keep us locked, who will you talk to?” Tikait warned that if the authorities continued this approach, the farmers’ protests would intensify.
On Tuesday, the BKU held an emergency meeting at the Kisan Bhawan in Sisauli village, Muzaffarnagar, under the leadership of Naresh Tikait. The meeting decided to support farmers in Noida and Greater Noida who are protesting for compensation and other demands related to land acquisition. The BKU called on its members from western Uttar Pradesh to gather at Zero Point in Greater Noida on Wednesday, as announced by Anuj Singh, president of the union’s youth wing.
Meanwhile, hundreds of villagers gathered at Zero Point to protest against the local authorities, demanding compensation and benefits for land acquired by the government. On Tuesday, the Gautam Buddh Nagar police arrested over 100 protestors during the demonstrations. The women and elderly among those arrested were later released, as confirmed by Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh.
With inputs from PTI