Farmers' march : Delhi Police on alert, security deployed at border points
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Police has tightened security at borders ahead of the Punjab farmers' Friday march to the national capital.
"Delhi Police is on alert and security has been tightened at the border points of the city. A skeletal deployment has been made at the Singhu Border but it may increase as per the situation at the Shambu border on the Punjab-Haryana border," a senior police officer told PTI.
Traffic is likely to be hit due to the security arrangements at the border and the central part of Delhi, he said.
The officer said the police are also keeping an eye on developments on the Noida border, where another group of farmers from Uttar Pradesh observes a sit-in.
Farmers, mainly seeking a legal guarantee to minimum support price for crops, had earlier attempted to march into the national capital on February 13 and February 21, but they were stopped by security forces at Shambhu and Khanauri on Punjab-Haryana borders.
Farmers under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points since then.
On Wednesday, the district administration of Ambala in Haryana asked Punjab farmers to reconsider their proposed march to Delhi and told them to contemplate further action only after getting permission from Delhi Police.
Delhi Police, however, said it has not received any request from Punjab farmers to march to Delhi.
The Ambala administration has imposed Section 163 of the BNSS restricting the assembly of five or more persons in the district and has issued notices at the protest site near the Shambhu border.
On Monday, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said a delegation of farmers met Ambala's superintendent of police and informed him about their foot march to Delhi on December 6.
Pandher said the delegation had assured the police that the march would be peaceful and traffic along the route would not be blocked.
Besides the MSP, the farmers are demanding a debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, and no hike in electricity tariff.
They are also demanding "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Family of injured driver in murder of Suvendu's aide seeks exemplary punishment
Kolkata (PTI): The family of Buddhabeb Bera, the driver injured in the shooting that killed BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's close aide Chandranath Rath, demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible and urged the new government to ensure such incidents do not happen in West Bengal.
Rath was shot dead in Madhyamgram near Kolkata on Wednesday night, triggering a political storm in the state. Bera, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the attack, sustained gunshot wounds and is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
Family members said they learned about the incident through television and immediately left for Kolkata.
ALSO READ: Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
"We came to know from TV reports that my nephew had been shot. We still do not know who carried out the attack or why it happened," Buddhabeb's uncle Biswajit Bera said.
"Our only wish now is that he recovers and returns home safely," he added.
Buddhabeb, 25, hails from Majnaberia village in the Chandipur police station area in Purba Medinipur district.
According to family members, he mostly stays in Kolkata for work and visits home occasionally during weekends.
Besides his parents, his younger brother, sister-in-law and several relatives have also travelled to Kolkata following the incident.
Demanding strict action against the perpetrators, the uncle said, "We want the government to conduct a proper investigation and identify those directly involved in the crime. They should be given exemplary punishment so that such incidents do not happen again in West Bengal and no other family has to go through this grief."
A neighbour, Ranjana Ghorai, also sought stringent punishment for those behind the attack.
"In our neighbourhood, we call him Sona. We want exemplary punishment for the people responsible for this incident," she said.
Rath's family members have demanded life imprisonment for the accused, while Adhikari has called for capital punishment for those involved in the killing.
