Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers clash with Minister’s associates

Four persons were injured when a clash broke out between the aides of Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan and the residents of Soram village in Muzaffarnagar on Monday. Sources said Mr. Balyan had come to the village to attend funeral prayers of a senior member of the village. However, when some villagers raised slogans against him and the farm laws, one of his aides snatched a stick from the security staff and attacked the villagers. This led to chaos, forcing the police to intervene to bring the situation under control. Later, the agitated villagers held a panchayat and hundreds of villagers organised a sit-in protest at the Shahpur police station, demanding that an FIR be registered against Mr. Balyan and his aides. Yogesh Kumar, one of the four persons who were allegedly injured, lodged a complaint, stating that they had been attacked by around 25 aides of Mr. Balyan with the purpose to kill, and severely abused. The police have yet to register the FIR but the Circle Officer of Budhana said they were talking to the farmers. Talking to reporters, Mr. Kumar said he and his friends were members of the BKU and were raising slogans in support of the union. “I was pulled into a car by policemen and the aides of the Minister. A gun was pointed at me and I was roughed up. After an hour, I was left in a field,” he said. In a tweet, Mr Balyan said five or six RLD workers had used abusive language. “Locals intervened and shooed them away,” he said.

The Hindu

2021-02-23

Ghaziabad