Farmers protesting against new highway in Junagadh detained

Policemen,who were giving protection to the officials resorted to mild lathicharge to disperse the farmers. According to eyewitnesses,a few protesters were injured in the process. Later,146 farmers,including 69 women,were detained by police and were taken to headquarters of Junagadh district police.

Meanwhile,a few of the detained farmers were later taken to a hospital in the city but were discharged after primary treatment. All the detained persons were released later in the evening.

While lower-rank police officers admitted the protesters were lathicharged,district superintendent of police (DSP) of Junagadh,Dipankar Trivedi denied it. “There was no lathicharge. A few farmers,who were obstructing the work of surveying and measurement,were put in police vans. Nobody was injured in the incident,” he said.

The work of four-laning the highway connecting Jetpur in Rajkot district to Somnath in Junagadh district is in the progress. NHAI has proposed to construct a new bypass from Vadal to Koyali village in Vanthali taluk of Junagadh as part of the road widening project. However,farmers of a dozen villages are opposing the new bypass saying the current bypass should be made wide.