Thousands of farmers from Ambala began a march towards Delhi on Wednesday afternoon in response to a call by several farmers’ groups for “Dilli Chalo” on November 26.
The Haryana Police have set up barriers and diversions on the highways leading to Delhi in the bordering districts to prevent the agitating farmers from reaching the National Capital.
Bharatiya Kisan Union member Balkar Singh told The Hindu over phone that thousands of farmers started a march towards Delhi in tractors and trolleys from a food grains market near Ambala in the afternoon and broke the barriers put by the police to reach Shahbad. He claimed that the police used water cannons to stop the farmers.
Mr. Singh said the farmers were scheduled to reach Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Sonipat around midnight before entering Delhi.
Continued crackdown
Earlier, there were reports of arrests and detentions of farmers leaders from several parts of Haryana, including Rewari, during the day amid the continued crackdown for the second day in a row. Inspector General of Police, Hisar Range, Sanjay Kumar, said it was a dynamic situation and arrests would continue.
In a related development, the Delhi Police reiterated that all requests from farmer organisations for protest permits on Thursday and Friday have been rejected, and warned that legal action would be taken if gatherings take place in Delhi amid the coronavirus pandemic.