Former Haryana Minister Manish Grover and several other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were held hostage by protesting farmers on Friday. The leaders were watching PM Modi's programme in Kedarnath live at a temple in Rohtak's Kiloi village when dozens of farmers suddenly surrounded them.
The farmers, protesting against the Centre's three farm laws, held the leaders captive for over six hours following which a heavy police contingent was rushed to the area to control the situation.
According to reports, at least two protesters were arrested and traffic on Delhi-Hisar Highway has been stopped for prevent the situation from deteriorating.
Earlier in the day, the windshield of BJP MP Ram Chander Jangra's car was smashed after some miscreants allegedly threw lathis on the vehicle during a protest by farmers over his visit to Hisar district. However, no one was hurt in the incident that the minister described as "a clear murder attempt".
Hundreds of farmers are encamped at Delhi borders since November last year demanding that the government repeal the three agri laws -- Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
They claim that these laws will leave them at the mercy of corporates. They are also demanding a new law to guarantee the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.
The Centre, which has held 11 rounds of talks with farmers to break the deadlock, has maintained that the new laws are pro-farmer.
ALSO READ: BJP MP's car vandalised during farmers protest in Haryana's Hisar | WATCH
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