Ahead of Modi’s rallies in Gurdaspur and Jalandhar, police put farmer leaders under house arrest

Chandigarh: Hours ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two rallies in Punjab, police placed half a dozen farmer leaders under house arrest and arrested some in the Gurdaspur and Jalandhar districts.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address election rallies in Gurdaspur at 3:30 PM and Jalandhar at 5:30 PM. The farmers have announced that they will not disrupt the rallies but will display black flags as the Prime Minister travels from the helipad to the rally venues.

In Gurdaspur, police raided the houses of farmer leader Tarlok Singh and Kisan and Jawan Kalyan Morcha members Sukhdev Singh Bhojraj, Tarlok Singh, and Satbir Singh Sultani, as well as trade union leader Makhan Kohar. The raids were carried out late last night and early this morning.

No arrests have been made so far, as the leaders had already left their homes before the police action. DIG (Border) Rakesh Kaushal denied the raid. “We have opened channels of communication with farmer leaders and are in talks with them to end their protest,” he said.