Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Farmers die as cops open fire

Farmers die as cops open fire

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Oct 10, 2011   modified Modified on Oct 10, 2011

-The Telegraph

 

Four farmers were killed and 10 injured when security forces opened fire on agitating jute cultivators at Bechimari weekly market along National Highway 52 in Darrang this afternoon.

Just 15km from where the skirmish broke out today, 15 people were gunned down during a historic clash between the British administration and villagers of Patharughat over a rise in land revenue in 1894.

Almost 117 years later, the rulers' side has changed, but not the victims'.

Trouble began this morning when 5,000 small farmers from various parts of the district blocked the highway demanding government intervention in regulating prices.

Jute farmers, frustrated with traders' refusal to pay expected rates, began gathering on the highway from 10.30am.

When tension refused to dissipate, security forces arrived around noon.

As the police tried to persuade the crowd to clear the road and settle the matter calmly, the farmers insisted on an on-the-spot settlement and some began hurling stones at vehicles stranded on the highway.

Seven policemen, including deputy superintendent of police Fakrul Hussain, were injured in the stone shower.

More than 30 vehicles were damaged in the attack, prompting the security forces to open fire.

According to witnesses, the firing started soon after an army convoy arrived in the area.

Some of the farmers felt the firing came from the army side and not the police's.

The dead have been identified as Billal Hussain and Syed Ali of Baruajhar and Moinul Haque and Akbar Ali of Bechimari.

The injured have been shifted to Mangaldoi civil hospital and their condition is stated to be stable.

Jayan Ali and Maumas Ali of Bechimari and Jawaharlal Saha of Kharupetia who sustained bullet injuries, said they were caught in trouble while buying vegetables in the market.

Some of those injured said apart from caning the protesters, the security personnel chased people inside the market and fired upon them.

Hyder Ali, a farmer who was in the market to sell his produce, told The Telegraph that the price of 40kg of jute ranged between Rs 700 and Rs 800 at the market last week.

But today, the traders refused to offer more than Rs 400-Rs 500 for the same quantity. Darrang and Dhubri are the major jute producing districts in the state, churning out over 1.6 million bales of jute annually.

Pricing is indeed a problem in Dhubri.

Jute traders here said there had been a steep rise in jute prices and it shot up to Rs 2,500 per bale (170kg make a bale) in the open market in August though the government has fixed the support price at Rs 2,100.

"All this (trouble) is because the Kharupetia-based Jute Corporation of India centre in the district is not taking appropriate steps to regulate the prices," a farmer said.

Efforts to contact officials concerned proved futile.

The Kharupetia Marketing Society, under whose jurisdiction the Bechimari market falls, said it does not have the authority to regulate prices.

Darrang deputy commissioner Kumud Kalita and superintendent of police Bibek Raj Singh, who have rushed to the spot and were stated to be camping there since, could not be contacted despite repeated efforts.

The injured policemen have been shifted to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident and has instructed agriculture minister Nilamoni Sen Deka to rush to the area.

Deka met the farmers and promised that the government would soon take steps to regulate jute prices.

"The Centre determines the jute prices. We will take it up with Delhi," he told reporters.

The chief minister has announced an ex gratia of Rs 3 lakh for the families of the deceased.

Yahoo.com, 10 October, 2011, http://in.news.yahoo.com/farmers-die-cops-open-fire-220613103.html


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close