Farmers seeking to attend a convention were engaged in scuffle with security personnel in different parts of Odisha on Wednesday, as the police blocked the entry of the Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NNKS) activists to Bhubaneswar.

TheKS, a leading farmers organisation, had planned to hold a mega convention before the state Assembly but it was not allowed.

Police said they stopped the farmers at Tamando and Hansapal on the outskirts of the city besides Vani Vihar, Master Canteen and railway station within the city, and were taken into preventive custody.

They were also detained in other places such as Cuttack, Badamba and Remuna.

Commissioner of Police Satyajit Mohanty said, "The police took the farmers into preventive custody as they were secretly planning an economic blockade in the state capital."

The police had also now allowed the farmers congregation near the Assembly, Mohanty said.

Protesting the police action, several activists staged a dharna at the Master Canteen Square here disrupting vehicular traffic for sometime.

However, some of the activists managed to reach the Lower PMG Square to attend the convention where they were picked up by the police.

"Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has to pay a big price in next two months for the state government's anti-farmer attitude. The police cannot stop us from achieving our genuine rights,"KS national convenor Akshya Kumar told reporters.

Agriculture Minister S B Behera said, "TheKS should take benefit from the state's KALIA Scheme. It appears that they (NNKS leaders) have a hidden agenda."

The state government launched the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme last month for the welfare of farmers.

TheKS, a leading farmers organisation has been agitating since long demanding price, pension and prestige for the peasants.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)