Jind farmers give cops ultimatum: ‘Find missing farmer or we will block national highway’

 Jind farmers give cops ultimatum: ‘Find missing farmer or we will block national highway’

Farmers from Kandela village of Haryana's Jind on Friday warned that they would block a national highway if police fail to locate a fellow farmer -- who had gone missing during the ‘tractor parade’ in Delhi on Republic Day -- by June 19.

After an anxious wait of four months, farmers from Kandela came out on the streets Friday, demanding action to locate Bajinder Singh, 30. They also announced that they would block the Jind-Chandigarh national highway at Kandela on June 19 if the farmer is not found by then.

Bajinder’s mother Santosh Devi, 65, who has not been keeping well since her son went missing, was among the protesters. “I am not able to eat or drink properly. It’s difficult to get through even a single day. It's been months since my son went missing. I am not dying but unable to live too. Please bring my son back home, if he is in any jail or staying elsewhere,” she said.

Farmers, including women in their tractor-trolleys, marched from Kandela to neighbouring Jind town to hand over a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Aditya Dahiya. “I have discussed the matter with the SP. We will conduct an inquiry,” said Dahiya.

“The government and the administration are not serious about the matter. If he is in jail or outside, he should be handed over to the villagers,” said Chhaju Ram Kandela, a BKU activist.

Bajinder is among the farmers who went missing after violence broke out during the ‘tractor parade’ on Republic Day. Family members say Bajinder had gone to Tikri border along with other farmers from the village on January 24 to join the ongoing agitation against the Centre’s three farm laws. “A farmer from our village told me that he had seen Bajinder in a trolley on January 26, but didn't have any idea when he left the vehicle,” his elder brother Surender Redhu had earlier told The Indian Express.

On its part, Delhi Police had told the Delhi High Court in February that it has not arrested any such person in connection with the violence which occurred on January 26, adding three teams have been constituted to locate Bajinder and they have interrogated 15 people in this regard.