More than 160 protesting farmers held in Noida; unions urge judiciary to intervene, threaten to widen stir
New Indian ExpressNOIDA: Police on Tuesday arrested more than 160 protesting farmers, including the president of Bharatiya Kisan Parishad Sukhbir Yadav 'Khalifa', who were holding a sit-in at the 'Dalit Prerna Sthal' in Noida after their march to Delhi on land compensation and other demands was stopped a day earlier. In a statement, the farmers' collective claimed the police had arrested "hundreds of farmers including more than one hundred women" and forcibly evicted them from the protest site. The SKM alleged that the police "had violated the consensus reached with the farmers' leadership on December 2, asking for seven days to allow the "Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh to discuss and resolve the demands". Additional Commissioner of Police Shiv Hari Meena said that they arrested more than 160 protesters at around 1.30 pm under Section 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.