True to their warning,farmers from villages near the Buddh International Circuit marched to the Formula One race venue to hold a sports tournament of their own on Saturday morning. They were,however,detained even before they could enter the premises. Farmers from villages like Dankaur and Atta Gujran had gathered to hold cricket,kabaddi and athletics events on the F1 tracks as a mark of protest against land acquisition policy of the administration. We spent an hour forming teams and organising the sequence of events. At 11 am,we tried to enter the circuit,but were stopped. We knew that we would not be allowed inside,but had decided that we would begin to play at the spot where they stopped us. However,even before anything could start,they put us in police vans and took us to separate locations, said Nathiram Sharma from Dankaur village and one of the chief organisers of the protest. Sharma said he was part of the group that was first taken to the Dankaur police station. Police said around 30 people were detained and released later in the evening. The security arrangements at the circuit are very tight. Only ticket-holders and authorised personnel can enter. The group tried to force their way in. Since they had already announced what they intended to do,we had no choice but to detain them. Their presence could have led to security problems. We took them to separate locations such as Dankaur,Surajpur,Parsaul and the Police Lines in Noida. Everybody was let off in the evening, said a senior police officer.
