Farmers' protest in Punjab fizzles out

The proposed four-hour rail blockade by farmers against the irregularities in paddy purchase fizzled out as police foiled their attempts to disrupt rail traffic today.
At least 3,000 farmers were taken into preventive custody as police thwarted their attempts to stop trains in Malwa, Doaba and Majha regions, officials said.
Bharat Kisan Union (Ekta) general secretary, Sukhdev Singh, however, claimed that activists of the 17 farmers organisations which participated in the protest managed to stop a train for about an hour at Partapura on the Phillaur-Nakodar line.
Police took farmers into preventive custody at several places, including Barnala, Moga, Faridkot, Muktsar and Ludhiana district.

Singh claimed that police repression proved that the state government did not like farmers protest agianst the Centre on the irregularities in paddy purchase.
He alleged there was a nexus between commission agents, rice millers and government procurement agencies to underpay the farmers by purchasing their paddy much below the Minimum Support Price set by the Centre.
Besides BKU (E), members of the Kirti Kisan Sabha, Punjab Kisan Sabha and Dehati Pind Mazdoor participated among others in the protest.