Karnataka farmers detained in Bhopal while travelling to Delhi for protest March

PTI, Feb 12, 2024, 3:19 PM IST

At least 70 farmers travelling from Karnataka for the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest march were detained by the government railway police (GRP) at Bhopal railway station in Madhya Pradesh in the wee hours of Monday, an official said.

According to eyewitnesses, the farmers staged a protest and raised slogans after they were forced to alight from a Delhi-bound train and not allowed to travel further.

The farmers were deboarded from a Sampark Kranti Express train in the early hours of the day and handed over to the district authorities, the official from the GRP said. ”A total of 70 farmers were detained by the police at Bhopal railway station around 3 am, following which we staged a protest,” farmers leader and Dharwad Zila secretary Parshuram Etingudd told PTI.

The group was travelling to Delhi to take part in the farmers’ agitation, he said.

One of the women protestors also sustained injuries in the police action, Etingudd claimed and alleged that the group was detained in a place outside the railway station and was not provided facilities such as hot water, especially for those having medical issues.

Several farmer associations, mostly from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, have called for a march on February 13 to demand a law guaranteeing MSP for their produce, one of the conditions they had set when they agreed to withdraw their agitation in 2021.