NNKS protests ‘illegal’ arrest of farmers

JAGATSINGHPUR: Terming arrests of farmers ahead of their demonstration in the Capital as illegal, Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NNKS) activists on Tuesday blocked Cuttack-Paradip State Highway at Tarapur in Raghunathpur and Cuttack-Naugaon National Highway at Balikuda Bazaar in protest against the police action.

Vehicular traffic on these two routes was severely affected due to the blockades. As NNKS has planned to gherao the Assembly on Wednesday, lakhs of farmers from different parts of the State are getting ready to participate in the agitation demanding price, pension and prestige. 

However, police, in a bid to foil the protest plan, arrested more than 10 farmers in Balikuda, Biridi, Raghunathpur and Naugaon on Monday night. Among those behind bars are block coordinator of NNKS Balikuda unit Mitu Das, Debasish Das, Kailash Parida, Laxmidhar Swain, Pabitra Nayak, Basant Nayak, Bhaskar Mohapatra, Gayadhar Parida and Gunanidhi Swain.

Later in the afternoon, irate activists of NNKS lifted the blockades after police released the farmers and brought them to the protest sites at Tarapur and Balikuda.