Scores of farmers were rounded up by the police and whisked away as they tried to stage a dharna in front of the residence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the city on Thursday.
The farmers led by Kurubur Shanthakumar, president, Karnataka Sugarcane Cultivators Association, had given a 10-day deadline to the State government seeking an upward revision in the support price for the crop failing which they had announced to stage a dharna.
The police had barricaded all roads leading to Mr. Siddaramaiah’s residence at Sharada Devi Nagar and security had been beefed up in and around the area. As Mr. Shanthakumar and other farmers tried to barge through the barricade and assemble and sit on a dharna in front of the CM’s house, they were overpowered by the police and whisked away from the scene.
“We had given the CM 10 days time to act on our demands but there was no response which underlined the government’s apathy towards farmers issue,” said Mr. Shanthakumar.
He said a majority of the farmers were taken to the police parade grounds and held till late in the afternoon and scores were still being rounded up and brought to the spot as a precautionary measure. “We know that the Chief Minister is not here but yet wanted to build pressure by staging a peaceful dharna in front of his house in the city but the police have forcibly brought us to the parade grounds. We are insisting that cases be booked on all the farmers who have been rounded up by the police,” said Mr. Shanthakumar.
The association members said the police security had been beefed up in a radius of 1 km around the CM’s residence in Sharada Devi Nagar and scores managed to sneak in before being rounded up. More than 500 farmers have taken part in the protest and were rounded up, according to the association members.
The farmers have sought 10 hours of uninterrupted power supply for irrigation pump sets but have bemoaned that electricity was being supplied only for five hours. The sugarcane farmers association has also sought a higher procurement or support price from the government on the grounds that the cultivation cost per ton of sugarcane was ₹3590. The farmers have also sought prosecution of private sugar mills that were delaying remitting arrears due to the farmers.
