Mahila Maha Panchayat in Delhi: Haryana Police detain farmer leaders

Chandigarh: Several farmer leaders in Haryana were detained as they proceeded towards Delhi with a large number of supporters for the "Mahila Maha Panchayat" called in support of the wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar, farmers' outfit BKU (Charuni) claimed.

Security has been heightened at Haryana's borders with Punjab and Delhi and barricades had been put up at many places along with heavy deployment of police personnel as farmers, mostly women, tried to move in groups towards the national capital. Large groups of farmers from Punjab were also moving towards Delhi.

Police stopped hundreds of farmers at the Haryana-Punjab border near Ambala city in the morning. In Kurukshetra, BKU (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh Charuni was detained under relevant provisions of the law, a police official said.

The outfit claimed that some other farmer leaders have been detained by the police in different parts of Haryana to prevent them from reaching Delhi.

The wrestlers, who have been sitting in protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, have demanded the arrest of Brij Bhushan Singh who, they alleged, sexually harassed several women grapplers.

A large number of police personnel have been deployed in Sonipat, Jhajjar, Jind, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Sirsa and Gurugram districts and all vehicles entering Haryana were being thoroughly checked, officials said.

Police rounded up some farmers on GT Road near Gurudwara Manji Sahib in Ambala on Sunday when they insisted on marching towards Delhi. A spokesperson of BKU (Charuni) Sukhwinder Singh alleged that police detained some of the farmers late on Saturday night.

Around 200 farmers, including women activists, have been camping in Gurudwara Manji Sahib in Ambala since Saturday night which led to heavy deployment of police force outside the Gurudwara road.

Ambala's Superintendent of Police Jashandeep Singh said no permission has been given to hold the "Mahila Maha Panchayat" in Delhi. The police officer reached the gurudwara and asked the farmers not to lake the law in their hands and disperse.  Thousands of police personnel have been deployed and multiple layers of barricades were put in place in the Lutyens' Delhi area on Sunday as part of the security arrangement for the inauguration of the new parliament building and protesting wrestlers' 'Mahila Mahapanchayat'.

The wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar, about two kilometres from the parliament building, said they will go ahead with their "Mahila Maha Panchayat" near the new building at any cost. The Delhi Police, however, said no protester will be allowed to move towards the new building as permission has not been granted to hold the "Mahila Mahapanchayat".

Police personnel have put up barricades at border points and are checking vehicles entering the national capital.

A khap maha panchayat held on May 21 in Rohtak had decided that the women supporting the protest against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh will hold a panchayat before the new Parliament building on May 28.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building on Sunday morning.