Bathinda, June 18

Farmers, who are owners of the land to be acquired by the government for the Greenfield Expressway from Amritsar to Jamnagar, on Friday entered the Deputy Commissioner meeting hall inside the district administrative complex (DAC) and gheraoed an official of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) present there.

The aggrieved farmers had a meeting scheduled with officials of the Pollution Control Board. When they reached the DAC, the police closed the gate and did not allow them to enter. After the police action, the farmers started protesting there.

The protesters also started scaling the gate and walls of the complex to gain entry, forcing the police to open the gate. They said they had been regularly called by the district administration to raise objections but before that the authorities had called a meeting with “fake” farmers.

Seeing the anger of farmers, Tehsildar Sukhbir Singh Brar rushed to the spot and informed them that the meeting had been cancelled. He promised the farmers that a meeting would be held with the district administration in which they could raise their objections, following which the protest was called off. — TNS