CHANDIGARH: More than a year after launching their protest, farmers were evicted on Wednesday evening from both the Shambhu and Khanauri borders between Punjab and Haryana, which have been closed for normal traffic due to the stir. This came after the Punjab Police had detained Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non Political) leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, while they were en route from Chandigarh to the Shambhu and Khanauri borders after the seventh round of talks between farmer leaders and the Union government remained inconclusive. Dallewal has been on a hunger strike since November last year.On the Haryana side, these border points are still barricaded. The authorities had erected cement and other barricades there in order to stop the farmers from moving towards Delhi.The farmer leaders were traveling back to the Shambhu border from Chandigarh, from where Dallewal and other leaders were supposed to proceed to Khanauri. However, they were detained upon reaching the Jagatpura area of Mohali. Dallewal was taken into custody while inside his ambulance, while others were detained along with their vehicles after some resistance. Pandher was detained from his vehicle from the Zirakpur barrier as he attempted to flee. Fourteen farmer leaders and others accompanying the two were also detained.Pandher has been taken to Bahadurgarh Fort Commando Police Training Centre in Patiala. This has been transformed into a makeshift detention centre, with a majority of farmer leaders and protesting farmers, except Dallewal, being taken there.After detaining the farmer leaders, a heavy police force headed by senior officers reached both border points and detained the farmers sitting at these places. They were asked to sit in vehicles arranged by the police, with some force being used at Khanauri to evuct them. After that, with the help of JCBs, the makeshift stages and other structures including their tents were dismantled and the tractor-trolleys taken away. Around 200 farmers were detained at Khanauri and around 40-odd farmers at Shambhu. Internet services have been suspended in many areas around the Shambhu border and a heavy police force has been deployed in nearby villages.The decision to take action against the protesting farmer unions was reportedly made on Tuesday night, following a meeting between top AAP functionaries and industrialists who expressed concerns that the protests were incurring significant costs.
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