Agencies/Lucknow
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| A woman weeps after police arrested her male family members, following Saturday’s clash between farmers and police, at Bhatta Parsaul village in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh yesterday |
A protest by angry farmers seeking greater compensation for a motorway being built in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh spread yesterday to villages near Agra, home to the famous Taj Mahal monument, officials said.
Four policemen were injured when farmers turned violent and torched vehicles.
The protests in the Agra district came a day after four people, including a police officer, were killed in clashes between the police and farmers at a village in the Delhi suburb of Noida.
Agra and Noida, where the violence first broke on Saturday, are both located in Uttar Pradesh state.
Villagers in Noida’s Bhatta Parsaul had taken three government employees hostage and fired at the police when they attempted to rescue them.
The police retaliated by firing teargas. Three people, including the police official, died in the clashes, while one injured person died in hospital yesterday.
Angry farmers in Agra’s Etmadpur area went on the rampage yesterday, throwing stones at police and setting fire to vehicles and furniture of the Jaypee group’s Yamuna Express Highway camp office.
Violence was reported from two spots near Chalesar and Etmadpur. Police said the situation had been brought under control.
Director General of Police Aseem Arun said four policemen had been hurt in the violence and two police vehicles were damaged.
The latest incidents were triggered by news of farmer-police clashes in Noida, bordering Delhi, and anger at Jaypee’s officials who villagers said had demolished a temple in Garhi Rami two days ago.
The police have announced a reward of Rs50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Manvir Singh Tevatia, who is accused of leading the protests.
The farmers are demanding greater compensation for land acquired by the government to build a six-lane motorway connecting Agra to the Delhi suburb of Noida. The cost of the project has been estimated at $2bn.
Under attack from the opposition, the Uttar Pradesh government has transferred Surya Pratap Singh as the Senior Superintendent of Police of Noida.
The All India Kisan Sabha has condemned “the police brutalities against the farmers protesting against unjust land acquisition.”
“The farmers ... have been seeking adequate compensation for the land acquired, rehabilitation and resettlement. However, the state government has been indifferent to their demands and resorting to selling land acquired on the pretext of industrialisation to private builders for real estate purposes,” it said.