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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Three die as Pune police open fire on protesting farmers by Amruta Byatnal

Three die as Pune police open fire on protesting farmers by Amruta Byatnal

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published Published on Aug 10, 2011   modified Modified on Aug 10, 2011

A farmers' protest against diversion of irrigation water and land acquisition turned ugly on Tuesday, as three people including a woman, were killed when the police opened fire to quell the agitation which became violent at Bahur village near the Pune-Mumbai express highway. The firing occurred around 11 a.m.

Thousands of farmers had gathered in the morning to protest diversion of water from the Pavana Dam to the twin industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad. According to Pune Rural Superintendent of Police Sandeep Karnik, the protesters were asked to vacate the expressway, which witnessed a massive traffic jam after their public meeting concluded. “After the meeting got over, the protesters started hurling stones at policemen and damaging police vans. We had decided not to use force but when the farmers got violent, we had no option but to open fire.”

Mr. Karnik said, “We had to burst 25 teargas shells, and fire 25 rounds of rubber bullets.” Senior officials were seriously injured when the protesters indulged in heavy stone throwing, which proved the tipping point for the police and resulted in violence through the second half of the day, he said. “It was after inspector Maruti Ingavle was hit in the head that we opened fire from our service revolvers to bring the situation under control.” Mr. Karnik said three senior police officials and more than 20 police constables were hurt.Those who died in the firing have been identified as Kantabai Thakar, Moreshwar Sathe and Shyam Tupe. Another protester Maruti Kiridh was seriously injured and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Pavana Hospital. About 25 others were admitted to various hospitals in the region, the police said.

The protests were led by the Opposition Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party, along with the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS). According to Shankarrao Shelar of the BKS, the police used force unnecessarily. “It was the police who opened fire first, and went into houses and hurt people.” Another participant said that only after the police rounded up around 50 protesters and beat them up did the agitators hit back.

According to the police, the protesters burnt a police van, stoned two buses and damaged 10 other vehicles.

The issue of diversion of water from the dam has been at the centre of debates over the last three years. The civic body wants to lay a closed pipeline from the dam through farmers' fields to reach Pimpri-Chinchwad. This exercise will also include acquisition of farmers' land. Both proposals have met with strong resistance as the farmers feel that water supply for farming and drinking will shrink, and their land will also be taken away.

The farmers protested earlier in April and June, and the agitation was renewed on Tuesday, as work along the dam began recently.

Pune Collector Vilas Deshmukh, who visited the area later in the day, said: “The Irrigation Department has already given a report that farmers' water supply won't be affected.” He has ordered a magisterial enquiry into whether the use of force by the police was justified or not.

The Hindu, 10 August, 2011, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2341347.ece


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