Bagalkot: Tractors, Two-Wheelers Among 50 Vehicles Torched
Meanwhile farmer’s leader Muttappa Komar clarified that those responsible for the incident were miscreants and not the protesting farmers
Bagalkot: Miscreants set ablaze about 50 vehicles including tractors loaded with sugarcane and two wheelers at Sameerwadi of Bagalkot district. In the wake of the incident, the district administration imposed prohibitory orders in three taluks Jamkhandi, Rabkavi-Banahatti, and Mudhol till November 16 morning.
Sugarcane growers have been staging protests since November 7, demanding Rs 3,500 per tonne for sugarcane and insisting that factories begin crushing only after their demand is met. Despite multiple rounds of talks with officials and the district in-charge minister, no breakthrough was achieved.
Meanwhile farmers got to know that some factories began operations on Thursday. It is said that there was also unhappiness among the farmers about some sugar factories not clearing the old dues.
According to officials, protesters arrived to lay siege to the Godavari (Sameerwadi) Sugar Factory under the Mahalingpur police limits in Rabkavi-Banahatti taluk on Thursday. During the agitation, miscreants allegedly set fire to tractors, while incidents of stone pelting left a few including Bagalkot Additional SP injured.
Witnesses said the attackers also assaulted those who tried to prevent them from torching the vehicles.
Meanwhile farmer’s leader Muttappa Komar clarified that those responsible for the incident were miscreants and not the protesting farmers.
“They hit people with sugarcane sticks and pelted stones at the vehicle and people there. We told them we are also farmers, but they did not listen. They damaged and set the tractors on fire. Farmers have taken loans to buy these tractors if the first trip itself is destroyed, what are the farmers supposed to do?” said Shravan Kumar, a farmer at the incident site.
Another tractor owner said he had borrowed Rs 50 lakh to buy his vehicle, which was among those damaged in the violence.
Following the incident, Bagalkot District Deputy Commissioner Sangappa invoked Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, prohibiting all protests, strikes, and public gatherings in Jamkhandi, Rabkavi-Banahatti, and Mudhol taluks from 8 pm on November 13 to 8 am on November 16.
