Security beefed up in Mandsaur

BHOPAL: Police deployment in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur has increased as the first anniversary of protesting farmers killed in police firing on June 6 last year draws near.

Police personnel are maintaining a close vigil on the movement of people in the area and are also being trained to restrain from using guns in case a volatile situation arises in the coming days to avoid a repeat of last year’s police action, officials familiar with the matter said.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address a rally at Pipliya Mandi, the village where five farmers had died in police firing last year. Several farmers’ outfits have also planned pay tributes to the dead farmers during their stir from June 1 to 10.

Mandsaur SP Manoj Singh, said personnel had been deployed at sensitive spots in the district and an additional 10 to 12 police companies would be brought in the area to maintain law and order in the coming days.

The death of the farmers, who were demanding a fair price for their yield, had become a rally point for farmers’ outfits and the Opposition, which sought to corner the state’s BJP government on the prevailing agrarian crisis.

OP Shrivastava, collector, Mandsaur said all steps were being taken to ensure there was no law and order problem in the district . “We are holding meetings with the farmers representatives and are trying to redress their grievances,”, he added.

FARMER DIES AT MANDI

A farmer died at the ‘krishi upaj mandi’ in Shajapur on Thursday. In the last eight days three farmers have died in the state’s mandis, which are being thronged by farmers looking to sell their yield. Farmers at a mandi in Bundelkhand’s Chhatarpur district allegedly looted gunny bags on Friday, accusing the government of selling the bags in the black market instead of making them available at the market.