Chandigarh 4 march 2025 : Ahead of the protest call by Samyukta Kisan Morcha on March 5, Punjab Police on Tuesday conducted raids at residences of several farmer union leaders across the state.
According to sources, in the last 12 hours, authorities have conducted multiple raids in several regions of the state, resulting in the detention of some leaders, while others have gone underground to avoid arrest.
“Massive raids are underway to scuttle our protests, and over a dozen buses are waiting to round me and my supporters up,” said Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president of BKU Ekta Ugrahan.
“Let the Punjab government do whatever it wants, but I warn them the protest will go ahead despite the police crackdown,” he added.
A senior police officer, speaking anonymously, confirmed the raids were conducted following the failure of talks between the Punjab government and farmer unions on Monday.
“We have mobilized forces, and efforts are ongoing to arrest farmer leaders,” said the officer.
Farmer union leaders had anticipated such a move from the government ahead of the protests.
“Most of us were not home early in the morning when hundreds of cops arrived to arrest us. While some members were detained, many leaders were not present during the raids,” a union leader stated.
On Monday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann reportedly walked out of a meeting with Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders. The meeting, called by the Punjab Government, aimed to resolve issues with farmers’ unions affiliated with SKM and persuade them to cancel their scheduled protest on March 5.
However, SKM leaders alleged that the Chief Minister did not listen to their demands and instead asked them to call off the protest.
Another SKM leader mentioned that they had only presented eight of their 18 demands when the Chief Minister intervened and left the meeting.
No senior officer was willing to officially confirm any arrests until the filing of the report. However, BKU (Krantikari) leaders claimed police raids on the homes of their leaders, including Balwant Mehraj, Ashok Bharti, Jarnail Kaleka, and Gurjeet Singh, who have reportedly been arrested.
Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader Sarwan Singh Pandher also criticized the police crackdown, calling it an attack on freedom in a democracy.
“Farmers want to protest peacefully, but the Punjab government is using the police to silence us. We will oppose any efforts to suppress our voices,” he said.
Pandher also expressed his dissatisfaction with the government’s inability to address the growing drug crisis in Punjab, citing the increasing number of young lives lost to addiction.
According to some farm union leaders, former BKU (Krantikari) block president Jagtar Singh has allegedly been arrested, with heavy police presence in many villages since early morning.
Summary: Ahead of the March 5 protest, Punjab Police raided the homes of farmer leaders as talks between authorities and farmers failed to reach a resolution.