Farmers clash with police in Barnala, scores detained in Sangrur

Tensions escalated in Punjab’s Malwa belt on Friday as Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) members clashed with police at Tapa in Barnala district.

The violence occurred when farmers attempted to force their way through multi-layered police barricades. The protesters were heading toward Bathinda to stage a demonstration outside the deputy commissioner’s office, demanding the immediate release of two farm leaders from Bathinda jail.

The situation turned violent when the police moved in to contain the surge, resulting in the confrontation and subsequent detention of protesters at the site. While the exact number of detainees in Barnala remains unconfirmed, the crackdown extended into neighbouring Sangrur, where the authorities had taken about 250 farmers into preventive custody.

This standoff between the farmer union and the administration follows the arrest of key activists. The BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan), one of the state’s most influential agrarian bodies, had called for a show of strength in Bathinda to pressure the government into dropping charges against their leadership.

However, the heavy police deployment across district borders showed a concerted effort by the state to prevent the protest from paralysing the Bathinda administrative complex.

Heavy security was deployed at Tapa and along the Barnala-Bathinda highway to prevent any further movement of farm unions.

Local leaders condemned the police action, labelling the preventive detentions an “undemocratic” attempt to stifle their voice, while the district administration maintains that the measures were necessary to uphold law and order.