Farmers Demanding Relief For Crop Damage Hold 12 Officials Hostage In Punjab, Release Later

Giving details, police said a group of over 100 farmers under the banner of a farm union held a protest outside the sub-tehsil in Lambi on Monday.

Chandigarh: A group of farmers who were demanding relief for crop damage allegedly held 12 government officials hostage for hours inside a sub-tehsil office in Muktsar district’s Lambi in Punjab, news agency PTI reported. The officials who were taken hostage, included a naib-tehsildar and patwaris. However, they were freed by police late in the night on Monday as the protesting farmers refused to let them go, an official told PTI.

These protesting farmers have been demanding relief for damage to their cotton crop by pink bollworms. Revenue officials on Tuesday went on strike against the incident in the state.

Giving details, police said a group of over 100 farmers under the banner of a farm union held a protest outside the sub-tehsil in Lambi on Monday. The protesters entered the office building in the evening and held the officials hostage till midnight, police added.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sandeep Kumar Malik added that 12 government officials were held hostage.

The SSP said senior police officers and the subdivisional magistrate there tried to placate them and assured a meeting with higher officials to address their concerns.

“But they were adamant and the officials were held hostage until late in the night,” Malik told PTI over the phone on Tuesday.

(With inputs from PTI)