Police fired tear gas shells on Wednesday to disperse protesting farmers in Punjab’s Bathinda district after demonstrators allegedly hurled stones at security personnel, officials said.
The protesters, members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan), were demanding the release of two jailed senior leaders. The agitation began in Jeond village, where farmers initially staged a sit-in on the Bathinda-Chandigarh highway, disrupting traffic.
Police had deployed heavy security in and around Bathinda to prevent protesters from moving towards the district administrative complex. After shifting their protest to an internal village road, the farmers later attempted to march towards the city but were stopped by police, leading to clashes.
Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Jyoti Yadav Bains said protesters threw stones at officers from rooftops.
“The mob showed aggression, but we contained it. The situation is under control,” Bains said.
Farmers denied the allegations, saying police used force without provocation. Shingara Singh Mann, the district head of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan), described the police action as excessive.
He alleged that tear gas shells were fired at protesters gathered peacefully at a village dera and claimed that a shed was demolished during the action, killing six goats. Mann also alleged that a young protester was detained and that police raided nearby homes.
The two farm leaders whose release is being sought were arrested in connection with a January 2025 clash in Jeond over a long-standing land dispute between original landowners and tenant cultivators. They have been lodged in Bathinda jail since April.