 "Farmers' protest: Shambhu border agitation escalates, police lathi-charge")
Farmers protest: Tensions escalated at the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border, as the agitators attempted to break away barriers which were put in to prevent them from participating in the farmers' protest 'Delhi Chalo' march on Tuesday.
The police were seen using water cannons to disperse the crowd. Videos emerged on social media, showing protestors throwing barricades down from the flyover at Shambhu.
Another video also showed farmers using tractors to remove the cement barricade in Haryana's Kurukshetra forcibly.
Teargas used to disperse crowd
The border, which lies near Ambala district in Haryana, has been sealed by the state authorities in a bid to thwart the march. Earlier today, the Haryana police fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd from the site.
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Several farmers were detained at the border and faced lathi-charge by the police as the situation escalated.
Police asks farmers to take out march on foot, buses
On the protest, Sibash Kabiraj, IG, Ambala Range, said, "We welcome the farmers coming from Punjab, but if they travel on tractors, it will create problems for the people." He urged the protestors to carry out the march on foot or via buses and trains.
The development comes as about 200 farm union bodies from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, under the banner of 'Samyukt Kisan Morcha', have organised a march towards Delhi for fulfilment of various demands from the Narendra Modi government.
Centre's talks with union collapses
The pre-planned march began on Tuesday, a day after the Centre held hours-long talks with the unions in Chandigarh but it failed. The farmers are seeking pension benefits, debt waivers, and legal provisions for MSP guarantees, among other things.
Section 144 imposed in Delhi
Entire Delhi is reeling under heavy security deployment, and its border with the neighbouring states has been sealed. Section 144 remains imposed in the national capital as the Delhi police cited possible disruption to the law and order situation in the wake of the protest. According to the police, no permission was granted for the march.
Traffic snarls were observed in many parts of Delhi and Noida as the commuters faced disruption on roads due to heavy traffic regulations in the wake of protests. Delhi Metro train services were also affected at some stations on Tuesday.