Uttar Pradesh keeps a watch on farmers returning from protests

DEHRADUN: As reports of action against protesting farmers came in from different places, Uttar Pradesh, where the situation was relatively calmer, kept a watch on the returning farmers. UP Police also tried to identify anti-social elements masquerading as farmers.

“Keeping in mind the recent violent protests in Delhi, we are trying to identify the troublemakers who have joined farmers’ protest,” Pravin Kumar, inspector general, Meerut zone, told ET.

Meanwhile, UP Police has offered support to its counterpart in Delhi in identifying the people involved in the January 26 violence. UP’s additional director general (law and order) Prashant Kumar said UP Police would cooperate with Delhi Police, if needed.

In another development, UP Police cleared the camp set up on the national highway at Baraut in Baghpat district to ensure smooth flow of traffic on Wednesday evening. “It was affecting a project of the NHAI (National Highways Authority of India). NHAI had requested the Baghpat district administration to remove farmers from the site,” said a UP Police official, who did not wish to be identified.

UP Police’s assessment is that farmers from the Terai belt, particularly Bareilly region, are participating more in the agitation than those from the sugar belt, said the official.

Farmers from different parts of the state, including Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Shamli, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Amroha, Bijnore and Pilibhit, are participating in the farmers’ protest on Delhi’s borders.

UP Police is keeping a vigil on sensitive areas of all such districts. Most of the farmers from these areas have gone to Ghazipur border near Delhi to participate in the farmers’ agitation against the new central farm laws.