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Police on Friday cleared a farmers' protest outside the residence of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan in his native village in Faridkot. The action came on the 10th day of the sit-in, with around 200 protesters detained.

 

The move came three days after district officials had persuaded the farmers to postpone their proposed road and rail blockade by 24 hours. The protesters had threatened to disrupt traffic if their demands were not addressed.

 

The temporary arrangement was meant to give the administration more time to hold talks with the state government. However, no agreement was reached, and police moved to clear the protest site on Friday before the blockade plans could be put into action.

 

A large police force reached the site and removed tents and barricades put up by the protesters outside the Speaker's residence. The detained farmers, belonging to various local and regional unions, were taken to different police stations in the district.

 

Officials said the action followed intelligence reports that protesters were preparing to step up their agitation by blocking national highways and railway tracks in the area. Security around the Speaker's residence was also increased, with checkpoints placed on key approach roads.

 

The sit-in was part of a wider farmers' campaign involving indefinite protests outside Punjab Agriculture Development Banks. The unions are demanding government action on several long-standing issues.

 

Their demands include financial relief and debt compensation for farmers, the return of blank security cheques taken by land mortgage banks as collateral, and financial assistance or government jobs for families of farmers who died during previous protests.

 

A senior police officer said talks with the administration had not made progress despite the 24-hour extension given by the district authorities. Farmer unions had therefore moved ahead with plans to block roads and railway tracks across the Malwa region, prompting police to intervene before the blockade began.

 

Farmer leader Kaka Singh Kotra condemned the police action and called the detentions undemocratic. He warned that the unions could launch a fresh statewide protest if all those detained were not released unconditionally.