Cong demands compensation for cotton farmers; leaders cane-charged in Bathinda

BATHINDA: Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and hundreds of Youth Congress leaders and workers were canecharged by the Punjab Police here on Wednesday as they forcefully tried to enter the premises housing the office of the Deputy Commissioner

Updated At : 09:15 PM Sep 30, 2015 IST

Police stop Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu from trying to jump a barricade during a protest in Bathinda on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Nikhila Pant Dhawan
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, September 30

Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and hundreds of Youth Congress leaders and workers were cane-charged by the Punjab Police here on Wednesday as they forcefully tried to enter the premises housing the office of the Deputy Commissioner.

As police placed barricades at all entry points, Bittu and other Congress workers tried to jump over them and were cane-charged.

Bittu's turban also came undone in the scuffle, while a policeman was injured.

After staging a dharna on the road outside the District Administrative Office, the protesters were arrested, packed into police vans and taken to various police stations.

Earlier, the protesters jumped the gates and scaled the walls of the office of the Agriculture Department and smashed down the door at the office after the police failed in stopping them from entering the office.

The protest march was held demanding compensation for cotton farmers, who lost their produce due to whitefly.

Meanwhile, the farmers have been demanding a compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre for their damage.