Farmers resist Guj company’s bid to take possession of land, 50 detained

AHMEDABAD: About 50 farmers were on Sunday detained by police as thousands of cultivators protested against the move of a Gujarat government company to take possession of land at a village in Bhavnagar district for a proposed lignite plant.

However, the local head of a farmers’ group alleged that the police manhandled the protesters, including women and children, and in the process at least five people were injured.

The Gujarat Power Corporation Limited had acquired 3,377 acres from nearly 1,250 farmers across 12 villages under Ghogha taluka in Bhavnagar about two decades ago to set up its proposed lignite plant.

However, all these years the land remained in the possession of farmers who were cultivating it. The farmers are now opposing the company’s bid to take possession of the land.

The firm had sought police protection for its task to take the possession of the land when the clash erupted, Bhavnagar superintendent of police Dipankar Trivedi said. “We detained around 50 people and also had to fire tear-gas shells,” he added.

Narendrasinh Gohil, a local farmer leader and member of the Gujarat Khedut Samaj, a cultivators’ body, however, said that the farmers were carrying out a peaceful protest.

“The farmers and their families, including women and children, came out to protest against the company’s move to take possession of the land,” he said.