With intermittent shelling at Shambhu border point near Ambala by security personnel at the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protesters who are demanding minimum support price for their crops and tear smoke being used whenever any group of farmers moved towards the barricades, an internet ban has been imposed till February 16 in three districts of Punjab. UPDATES
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are spearheading the 'Delhi Chalo' agitation to put pressure on the Centre for their demands, including a law on MSP, loan waivers and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations.
On Thursday, farmers were seen squating on rail tracks at seven places in Punjab in protest against the Haryana Police action against protesting farmers at the borders. The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan had made the call. The decision was taken in protest against the use of tear gas shells and water cannons against protesting farmers by the Haryana security personnel at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders, he said.
The Delhi Police is on extra vigil though the protesting farmers have been stopped by the Haryana Police at the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana near Ambala.
Security personnel deployed at the Singhu border also tested a system that can generate extremely high-frequency sounds that may help in dispersing a crowd, according to sources. They said the system is called Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD).
The farmers at Shambhu, with their tractor-trolleys lining the road and more arriving from different parts of Punjab, are still over 200 km from their destination. Multiple layers of concrete blocks and metal spikes are placed at Delhi’s Singhu and Tikri borders with Haryana as well as at the Ghazipur border with Uttar Pradesh. Delhi-Sonipat traffic at Singhu and the movement of vehicles to Bahadurgarh through Tikri are suspended, an official said. Security personnel in anti-riot gear are deployed and drones used to keep an eye on the situation.
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