Heavy earthmoving equipment, including excavators, and modified tractors were also seen at the protest sites, with police cautioning that these might be used to break barricades and cause harm to security personnel
A farmer from Punjab was killed and several others injured on Wednesday as protesters resumed their ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation, with Haryana Police firing tear gas shells and water cannons at them to thwart their attempts to breach barricades at Shambhu and Khanauri borders. Amid several incidents of violence, the farmers have decided to suspend the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest march for two days, however, the sit-in will continue during this time.
“We will have discussions over the incident that took place in Khanauri. There will be a two-day stay on our march towards Delhi. We will clarify the entire situation later as to what our further movement will be,” farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher, head of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, told media.
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- Farm leaders had rejected a proposal made by the government in the fourth round of talks between the two sides to break the deadlock and announced that thousands of Punjab farmers camping at these two border points would resume their agitation on Wednesday morning.
- Heavy earthmoving equipment, including excavators, and modified tractors were also seen at the protest sites, with police cautioning that these might be used to break barricades and cause harm to security personnel.
- Police fired tear gas shells to disperse some farmers who started moving towards the multiple layers of barricades at Shambhu and Khanauri border points. There have been at least three rounds of tear gas shelling at Shambhu near Ambala in Haryana. A drone was also used by security personnel there to drop tear gas shells.
- Many protesting farmers were seen wearing masks and glasses to protect themselves from the gas. Drones were used by police to keep an eye on the activities of the farmers on the other side of the barricades.