Navdeep Singh, the farmer activist aka the "water cannon man”, was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a case linked to farmers' February 13 'Delhi Chalo' march. Singh walks out of jail after almost four months on Tuesday evening. Haryana police arrested him in March this year, from Mohali.
Haryana police arrested him from Mohali on March 28. Among the several charges pressed against Singh, include rioting and attempted murder too.
"Our programme was to honour him. But the Haryana government has issued instructions that farmers are not allowed to enter Ambala district," Pandher said in a conversation with the media.
Another farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said farmers had planned to assemble at Ambala's Anaj Mandi "and bring Navdeep Singh Jalbera to Shambhu border and honour him".
He said Amarjit Singh Mohri (Haryana), Jaswinder Singh Longowal (Punjab), and Ranjit Singh (Rajasthan) were among the farmer leaders detained by police.
Farmer leaders had initially planned to protest his arrest by ‘gherao’ the Ambala superintendent of police's office on Wednesday and Thursday. However, they dropped the plan after his release. Some farmer leaders were reportedly detained by police while trying to bring Navdeep Singh to the Shambhu border to honour him.
The Ambala police imposed prohibitory orders in the district, prohibiting processions. Navdeep gained fame during the 2020 farmers' agitation against the repealed farm laws. He climbed atop a police water cannon in November 2020, earning him the nickname.
Currently, farmers are demanding a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops, leading to ongoing protests and clashes with police.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently ordered the Haryana government to open barricades at the Shambhu border. However, the Haryana government has challenged this order in the Supreme Court, which will hear the plea on July 22.
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