Haryana Police requested Punjab authorities to seize bulldozers reportedly brought by protesting farmers from Punjab, as they prepare to recommence their 'Delhi Chalo' movement from the interstate border. Following four unsuccessful rounds of negotiations with the Centre regarding a legal assurance on minimum support price (MSP) for crops, the farmers are set to restart their march today from two locations along the Punjab-Haryana border. As per the figures provided by the Centre, approximately 14,000 individuals have congregated along the Punjab-Haryana border, accompanied by 1,200 tractor-trolleys, 300 cars, and 10 mini-buses.
Despite being more than 200 kilometers away from the national capital, Delhi Police conducted drills on Tuesday to secure its heavily barricaded entry points and prevent any breach by the protesting farmers. Thousands of farmers, who began the march to Delhi on February 13, were stopped at the Haryana border itself, where they clashed with security personnel. The farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri points on Punjab's border with Haryana since then. The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday orally asked the Punjab government not to allow the farmers to gather in large numbers.
The court noted that according to the Motor Vehicles Act, tractor-trolleys are not permitted on highways and suggested that the farmers use buses or public transportation to travel to Delhi. In an urgent communication to his Punjab counterpart Gaurav Yadav, Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) Shatrujeet Kapoor requested the Punjab Police to confiscate all bulldozers and earthmoving equipment that the farmers have obtained while camping at the two border points to dismantle barricades.
He said such equipment may pose a threat to security forces and the owners of such equipment should be strictly warned against providing them to the protesting farmers as it would amount to a criminal act. It is reliably learnt that heavy earthmoving equipment including proclain (digger), JCB etc, that have been further modified/armour-plated have been acquired by protesting farmers and have been deployed at the border locations where the protesters are camping right now.