'Rail roko' call: Farmers hold protest in Punjab; several detained, released later

Hoshiarpur/Ferozepur (Punjab), Dec 5 (PTI) As part of the two-hour 'Rail roko' call given by farmers' outfit in support of their demands, farmers protested in the state on Friday during which several of them were detained by police before being released later.

At a few places, the protest led to slight delays for trains, though no cancellations or route diversions were reported, officials said.

At several places, farmers were detained before they could squat on the rail tracks during the protest. However, they were released later.

The farmers are opposing the Centre's draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025, terming it "anti-farmer" while contending that it would lead to privatisation and centralisation of the Indian power system. They are also seeking a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP).

Farmers' outfit Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) had announced a statewide two-hour 'Rail roko' protest for Friday and called for a symbolic halt of train services from 1 pm to 3 pm at 26 locations in 19 of the 23 districts in the state.

As part of the call, the farmers owing allegiance to KMM and some of the allied outfits held protests at multiple locations, though at several places they were detained by the police and not allowed to block the rail tracks.

However, at some places, the farmers managed to squat on the rail tracks and hold protests. They had a minor scuffle with the police which tried to disperse a group of farmers who held protests at a track in Ferozepur district.

The farmers also protested at some places in Amritsar district.

In Ferozepur, hundreds of farmers under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) blocked the railway tracks for a while at the railway crossing of Basti Tanka Wali in the cantonment area and at Basti Kohar Singh Wali in Guruharsahai.

Due to the farmers' protest, some trains were affected.

The trains including Amritsar-Bikaner Express, Lohiana Khas-Phillaur DMU, Ferozepur Cantt-Jalandhar City DMU, Dera Baba Nanak-Amritsar DMU, Ferozepur Cantt-Huzur Sahib Nanded Express, Ferozepur Cantt-Ludhiana DMU, Fazilka-Ferozepur Cantt DMU, Ferozepur Cantt-Chandigarh Intercity Express, Amritsar-New Delhi Shan-E-Punjab Express, Amritsar-Qadian DMU and Amritsar-Pathankot DMU were halted at different stations for a brief period.

The protest, centred on the demand to scrap the Centre's proposed bill and other farm-related issues, saw a group of farmers reach the railway track in Hoshiarpur district under a rail-road flyover on the Jalandhar-Jammu section in the afternoon after evading police vigil. They sat on the track for nearly 10 minutes before being dispersed by the police.

A group of farmers tried to move towards Jalandhar railway station but the police had put up heavy barricades and prevented the agitators from heading towards the rail tracks for staging a sit-in. PTI COR SUN VSD KSS KSS