Following the eviction of protesting farmers from the Shambhu border, Haryana security personnel began removing cemented barricades erected to prevent Punjab farmers from reaching Delhi. The Shambhu-Ambala road, closed for over a year, is being cleared with JCBs and other machinery. Meanwhile, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha announced dharnas outside deputy commissioners' offices in protest against the Punjab Police crackdown. The groups criticized the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab for evicting the protesters and detaining farmer leaders on Wednesday. The police action was justified by Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, who said industries and businesses were hit hard due to the prolonged closure of the highways. The protesting farmers, led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, had been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points since February 13, 2022.
The Allahabad high court on Monday granted bail to Moninder Singh Pandher, a prime accused in the infamous Nithari serial killings, in five cases but he is unlikely to come out of the jail as at least eight other cases of murder were still pending against him.
The CBI and the forensic team are likely to visit the scene of crime on Thursday, the sources added.
Referring to an action against farmers by the security personnel deployed by the Haryana authorities at the Punjab-Haryana border, Pandher slammed paramilitary personnel for using "force" against farmers, leaving many injured.
A 'jatha' of 101 farmers will embark on a foot march to Delhi at 1 pm on Friday from the Shambhu border protest site, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Thursday.
The protesting farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana after their "Delhi Chalo" march was stopped by the security forces.
A 'jatha' of 101 farmers Friday began its foot march to Delhi from their protest site at Shambhu border, but was stopped a few metres away by a multilayered barricading.
He requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make an announcement that the farm loans would be waived, while a mechanism for the same could be worked out later.
Farmers protesting to press the Centre for their various demands will stay put at the two protest sites on the Punjab-Haryana border till February 29 when the next course of action will be decided, their leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Friday.
However, the documents attached with the report prepared by the then sub-inspector in-charge of the Nithari police post allegedly had glaring flaws, raising doubts about the police handling of the matter.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation court on Tuesday found Surinder Koli guilty of the murder of seven-year-old Aarti, one of the 19 women and children from Noida's Nithari village, whose body parts were found in a drain near the residence of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher.Aarti was the last known victim in the Nithari killings. She disappeared approximately two months before the case was busted.
However, the offences do not appear to be hate crimes or motivated by hate, Durham Regional Police said in a press release on Thursday.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Thursday demanded registration of a murder case against those responsible for the death of a protesting farmer at the Khanauri border point of Punjab-Haryana.
Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai and farmer leaders from Punjab will meet on Sunday for the fourth round of talks.
Farmers leaders taking part in the 'Delhi Chalo' agitation on Monday rejected the Centre's proposal of procuring pulses, maize and cotton at MSP by government agencies for five years, saying it was not in farmers' interest and announced that they will march towards the national capital on Wednesday.
Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Munda, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai represented the Centre at the meeting over the farmer unions' various demands, including a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also joined the meeting at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26. The meeting started at around 8:45 pm on Thursday and lasted for around five hours.
Some farmer outfits on Friday threw their weight behind the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) woman constable who allegedly slapped actor and Bharatiya Janata Party MP-elect Kangana Ranaut, saying the entire sequence leading to the incident needs to be properly investigated.
A panel of Union ministers will hold a fourth round of talks with farmer leaders in Chandigarh on Sunday over their demands, including loan waiver and bringing an ordinance on giving legal guarantee to a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Tuesday said the Centre should convene a daylong Parliament session to bring a legislation on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops, a key demand of protesting farmers.
In Punjab, farmers sat on railway tracks at many locations in 22 districts, including Amritsar, Ludhiana, Tarn Taran, Hoshiarpur, Firozpur, Fazilka, Sangrur, Mansa, Moga and Bathinda. Because of the disruption of train services, passengers experienced inconvenience.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a farmer leader, is on an indefinite hunger strike that has entered its 34th day. The Supreme Court has criticized the Punjab government for not shifting Dallewal to a hospital, while farmer leaders have said they are following Gandhian principles and it is up to the government to decide whether to use force to evict him. The farmers are protesting for several demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The protests have reached a decisive stage, with the SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha calling for a Punjab bandh on Monday.
Judge Rakesh Tripathi awarded seven years imprisonment to Koli's employer -- businessman Moninder Singh Pandher -- in the case.
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday ordered the Haryana government to remove within a week the barricading set up at the Shambhu border near Ambala where farmers have been camping since February 13 when their 'Delhi Chalo' march was stopped.
Scenes from the farmers' Delhi Chalo march and protest.
Sector 36 goes for the gruesomeness and shock; watching it needs a tough heart or a quick averting of the eyes, warns Deepa Gahlot.
Farmers from Punjab clashed with Haryana police at two border points between the states on Tuesday, facing tear gas and water cannons as they tried to break past barricades blocking their protest march to the national capital. The police lobbed tear gas shells -- some of them dropped from a drone -- and tried to disperse groups of stone-pelting protesters in the face-off that last several hours at Shambhu border near Ambala in Haryana.
The farmers also marched along the ambulance and demanded action against those who are responsible for his death.
A 62-year-old farmer, who was part of the 'Delhi Chalo' agitation, died of heart attack in Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border, a farmer leader said on Friday.
Haryana Police lobbed tear gas shells at farmers from Punjab at Shambhu border between the two states as thousands of protesters stayed put there on Wednesday, the second day of their 'Delhi Chalo' march.
Farmer leaders participating in the 'Delhi Chalo' agitation on Friday said the cremation of Shubhkaran Singh, who died amid clashes between Haryana Police and Punjab farmers, will not take place till the Punjab government registers a case against those responsible it.
A 21-year-old farmer was killed and a few others injured following a clash between security personnel and protesting farmers at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border.
A panel of Union ministers held a fourth round of talks with farmer leaders in Chandigarh on Sunday over their demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP, as thousands of protesting farmers camped at the Punjab-Haryana border.
The matter is being investigated, they said and added that so far, there is no evidence that the "Khalistani" slur was used.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also joined the meeting at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26 in Chandigarh.
The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) will on Saturday hold dharnas outside the residences of three senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Punjab on the fifth day of the farmers' protest over their various demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP).
A team of three Union ministers will hold talks on Monday with a delegation of farmer leaders, who are planning to march towards Delhi to press for their demands.
The court has also slapped a fine of Rs 35,000 on Koli and Rs 25,000 on Pandher, CBI spokesperson said.
The victim was a farmer apparently taking part in the protest in the district's Longowal area, where police were trying to stop protesters from blocking a national highway and a toll plaza, officials said.
'We are the same people who can quench a man's thirst and also kill him.'
"It was a rehearsal for the proposed January 26 tractor parade," Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) leader Shingara Singh Mann told PTI over the phone.
