Farmer leaders held ahead of padav

Several leaders of the All India Kisan Sabha, including three former MLAs, were arrested on Tuesday in a pre-emptive move by the state police on farmers’ proposed ‘Mahapadav’ in front of the assembly on February 22 to demand a complete farm loan waiver.
Additional director general (law and order) NRK Reddy said, “On apprehension that farmers can disturb peace during the proposed Mahapadav, hundreds of them were arrested across the state. Some of them have already been sent to judicial custody while the remaining would be produced before court on Wednesday.”

Jaipur police said, 59 farmers, including former MLA Pema Ram, were arrested here. “We produced them in court which sent them to judicial custody,” said Nitin Deep Blaggan, additional commissioner of police (law and order), Jaipur.

Pawan Beniwal, a student leader of the CPI-M, told TOI that about 100 people, including vice president and former MLA Amra Ram of the AIKS, ex-MLAs Pema Ram and Pawan Duggal, Kishan Parikh and others were arrested as farmers were marching from across the state to converge in Jaipur for the February 22 ‘Mahapadav.’

Meanwhile a statement from the AIKS office in Delhi had condemned the arrests and accused the state government of “unleashing repression on the peasant movement in the state.”

Source: Farmer leaders held ahead of padav | Jaipur News – Times of India