Fri Mar 28 06:41:43 UTC 2025: **Chandigarh Farmer Leaders Released After Police Crackdown**
CHANDIGARH, INDIA (March 28, 2025) – Three prominent farmer leaders, Sarwan Singh Pandher, Abhimanyu Kohar, and Kaka Singh Kotra, were released from jail on Friday, March 28, following a police crackdown earlier this month. The leaders had been detained on March 19 after meeting with a central government delegation led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Chandigarh.
The meeting aimed to discuss farmers’ demands, primarily for a legal guarantee on minimum support prices (MSP) for crops. Following the meeting, police erected barricades, detaining several leaders as they left Mohali. Authorities subsequently evicted farmers and dismantled protest camps at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points, where farmers had been protesting for over a year.
Mr. Pandher, leader of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, condemned the Punjab Police’s actions in a video message, criticizing the government’s dismantling of the protest sites and the detention of farmers. He stated he would hold a press conference later that day.
The farmers’ protest, which began in February 2024, was disrupted by security forces before reaching Delhi. The recent police actions and arrests have been met with strong criticism from protesting farmers who accuse the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of heavy-handed tactics.
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