Security Tightened, Police Deployed as Farmers Block Rail Tracks Across States

18-02-2021

Farmers on Thursday sat on railway tracks at many places in Punjab, Haryana and other states as part of the 'rail roko' protest against the farm laws. Members of Bharatiya Kisan Union shower flower petals on police personnel and offered sweets to them during farmers the protest. The police have appealed to the BKU members to end their agitation, according to reports. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions which is spearheading the protest, last week had announced the nationwide rail blockade to press for its demand to repeal the legislations and had said that the agitation will be from 12 pm to 4 pm. �It'll begin at 12 pm and go on till 3-4 pm. Trains aren't plying anyway. It'll be done peacefully. We'll provide water, milk, lassi and fruits to people who will be found stranded. We will tell them our issues,� Rakesh Tikait, Bharatiya Kisan spokesperson said.

Here are the updates regarding the rail roko agitation:

� Utkal Express that connects Odisha's Puri to Uttarakhand's Haridwar stopped at Ghaziabad railway station as farmers have blocked railways tracks at Modinagar railway station.
� Members of Bharatiya Kisan Union stage 'Rail Roko' at Hapur, Uttar Praesh during their nationwide protest against agriculture laws.
� Farmers at Haryana�s Kurukshetra reportedly climbed on the locomotive of the Gita Jayanti Express train, which was stationary at that time. "The train was scheduled to leave from the Kurukshetra station after 3 pm," a railway official in Kurukshetra said.
� Similar protests were reported at many Haryana districts including Ambala, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Panchkula and Fatehabad (Bhattu Kalan).
� In Punjab, protesters sat on tracks at many places on the Delhi-Ludhiana-Amritsar railway route, officials said.
� Farmers blocked the Jalandhar Cantt-Jammu railway track in Jalandhar and in Mohali district also farmers blocked a rail track.
� Similarly in UP�s Ghaziabad, Utkal Express that plies from Odisha's Puri to Uttarakhand's Haridwar was stopped at the railway station as farmers have blocked railways tracks at Modinagar railway station.
� Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sangharsh Samnawy Samiti or AIKSSC and other left parties protested at Sasaram Railway Station in Bihar against the farm laws. Goods Train stopped in Sasaram, Bihar.
� Security has been tightened in both Haryana and Punjab with personnel of the government railway police and the state police forces being deployed, officials said. The Ferozepur division of the Northern Railways has decided to halt trains at stations so that passengers face less inconvenience during the 'rail roko' protest.
� Train services will be resumed after following due security protocols once the agitation is over, they said. In Haryana, besides railway police personnel, the Haryana Police has deployed its staff in large numbers near the protest sites and at various railway stations.
� Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) members will block railway tracks at 22 places, including at Nabha, Mansa, Barnala, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Jalandhar and Tarn Taran, in Punjab, the organisation's general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said.
� In Bihar workers of Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik) stage a 'rail roko' agitation at Patna Junction railway station, against Farm Laws.