Farmers protest: IPS officer and Ambala IG Sibash Kabiraj has said that farmer leaders will not be booked under the National Security Act (NSA) after the Haryana government reviewed its yesterday's decision but appealed to protesters to maintain law and order.
Taking to social media platform X, Ambala Police said that this is to clarify to all concerned that the matter of invoking provisions of the National Security Act on few farm union leaders of district Ambala has been reconsidered and it has been decided that the same will not be invoked.
Haryana Police appeals to the protesters and their leaders to maintain peace and co-operate with the authorities in maintaining law and order, IPS officer and IGP Ambala Range Sibash Kabiraj said.
This comes a day after Ambala police issued a statement saying that it was implementing the process of detaining office bearers of the protesting farmer outfits under section 2(3) of the National Security Act, 1980, to maintain law and order and prevent criminal activities.
However, on Friday, Sibash Kabiraj said, "It is to clarify to all concerned that the matter of invoking provisions of the National Security Act on few farm union leaders of Ambala district has been reconsidered and it has been decided that the same will not be invoked."
Police officials said efforts were being made by the farmers' organisations to break the barricades put up at the Shambhu border. Attempts are also being made to disturb law and order by pelting stones and creating a ruckus, police said in a statement issued in Hindi.
The statement said government and private properties had been damaged and 30 policemen injured.
Provocative posts are being shared through social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram to disturb social harmony, it added.
In another statement, the Haryana Police said that it would move to recover damages through the seizure of properties and bank accounts of protesters. The damage caused to properties was being assessed, it said.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) are spearheading a 'Delhi Chalo' march to press the government into accepting their demands, including a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price for crops and a farm loan waiver.
Farmers leaders on Wednesday put the 'Delhi Chalo' march on hold for two days after a protester was killed and about 12 police personnel injured in clashes at Khanauri and had also said that they would decide their next course of action on Friday evening.
Thousands of farmers remain camped at Khanauri and Shambhu with their tractor-trolleys and trucks agitating for their demands.
Punjab farmers are also demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.
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