Karnal: A day ahead of a program to gherao the mini secretariat in Karnal on Tuesday against the alleged police lathi-charge on farmers on August 28, the administration on Monday banned the assembly of people in the district and mobile internet service was suspended. The Haryana government has also ordered the suspension of mobile internet services in four nearby districts from 12:30 pm on Monday till midnight on Tuesday.
Mobile internet services will remain suspended in Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind and Panipat districts from 12.30 am to 11.59 pm on Tuesday. Officials said 40 companies of security forces, including 10 companies of central paramilitary forces, have been deployed in the district, where local authorities have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) against the gathering of five or more people. banned.
Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni said that they had given the administration a deadline of September 6 to fulfill their demands. Chaduni said that a meeting was held with district administration officials here on Monday but after not getting any satisfactory reply to their demands, they decided to gherao the mini secretariat on Tuesday morning. “We will protest peacefully, but if the administration stops us, we will break the barricade,” he told reporters here.
Chaduni said that the farmers have no plan to block the national highway. In order to check the spread of misinformation and rumors, through social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, suspension of mobile internet service, SMS service has been ordered in Karnal, the order said. It said that all the telecom service providers of Haryana are directed to ensure compliance with the order. Later, another order was issued saying that mobile internet service would remain suspended in four nearby districts as well.
Earlier, as per an advisory issued by Haryana Police, there may be some traffic disruption on the main National Highway No-44 (Ambala-Delhi) in Karnal district on Tuesday. “Therefore, people using NH-44 are advised to avoid traveling to Karnal city or use alternate routes to reach their destination on September 7,” it said.
Karnal Superintendent of Police Ganga Ram Punia said that a total of 40 companies of security forces, including 10 companies of Central Armed Police Forces, have been deployed.
Punia said that with additional force from neighboring districts, five officers of the rank of superintendent of police and 25 officers of the rank of DSP will supervise the security arrangements here. Drones equipped with cameras will also be deployed as part of security measures, he said. Karnal Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said that no one will be allowed to take law in their hands. The United Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is leading various farmers’ organizations opposing the agricultural laws, has threatened to gherao the mini secretariat in Karnal on September 7 if their demands are not met.
