Incensed over the police action against 48 farmers from villages of Mawal taluka of the Pune district, locals supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party observed a Mawal bandh on Saturday.
The police had arrested 48 protesting farmers from Pandavnagar, Baur, Shivane, Sadavali and other villages of the taluka on Friday, seven months after three farmers were killed and nine injured in a police firing.
Farmers warned that the police action has angered them, and the agitation will be strengthened. “If the police does not stop the harassment, we will organise a bigger agitation than the one that took place seven months ago. Farmers are ready to take to streets once more,” said Shankar Deshmukh, sarpach of Shivane and Sadavali villages.
The BJP said that the arrests of the villagers who had participated in protest is unjustified. “The farmers were called for questioning and were arrested instead, thus showing that the NCP-led home department wanted to arrest them at any cost. The ruling party had lost the Mawal panchayat samiti elections and this is a revenge taken against the protesting farmers. We will hold a meeting on Sunday to decide the further course of agitation,” BJP state spokesperson Madhav Bhandari told this newspaper.
Meanwhile, local MLA Bala Bhegde said, “We have initiated the proceedings to seek bail for the arrested farmers.” A local court on Friday had remanded the farmers to 14 days of judicial custody. Farmers are now planning to challenge the order at the session’s court in Pune.