Fresh violence broke out in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday as hundreds of farmers took to the streets, demanding higher Minimum Support Prices for their produce. Around eight farmers were injured in a separate incident of firing, reported Firstpost.
The situation remained tense followed the killing of five farmers during an agitation on Tuesday, where they were demanding fair prices for their produce and a loan waiver from the Bharatiya Janata Party government.
The report said farmers had blocked the highway with the bodies of those killed on Tuesday. The administration finally managed to convince them to cremate the bodies. Some of the protesters got into a scuffle with the Mandsaur collector as well.
A number of vehicles were torched by the protesting farmers, who pelted stones in Parshavnath area. Farmers also torched a local warehouse, a factory and several vehicles in the nearby village of Sitamau in Mandsaur.
Around 1,100 anti-riots police personnel were deployed in Mandsaur by the Centre. Officials said the CRPF men were outnumbered by the protestors.
Train services too were affected by the ongoing protests. Trains from Madhya Pradesh to Rajasthan had to be cancelled or diverted, an official told PTI. Trains passing through the Ratlam Railway Division in MP were the worst affected, said the North-West Railways spokesperson. Earlier, the administration had suspended cellular data services in Ratlam, Neemuch, Mandsaur and Ujjain.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday had announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore each to the victim’s families. The injured will get Rs five lakh in compensation, he added. While the government ordered an investigation into the incident, police officials denied reports that the deaths were caused by bullet injuries.
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