Uttar Pradesh farmers protest land takeover, clash with cops

LUCKNOW - Farmers clashed with police in Karchana town of Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad district Friday as they protested the “inadequate compensation” for their agricultural land acquired for setting up a thermal power station.

Rail traffic on the Delhi-Kolkata trunk line was disrupted as the protesting farmers staged a sit-in on the tracks, despite the railway police using force to disperse them.

While protesters alleged a farmer was killed in the firing by the railway police, Director General of Police Karamveer Singh denied police had used their weapons.

“There was no firing by the police. The death of one man following a heart attack was being wrongly attributed to police firing, which never happened,” he told media persons here.

While demonstrators were still blocking the railway tracks, Singh said the situation was now well under control.

Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation chairman Navneet Sehgal maintained that bulk of the farmers whose land was acquired for the 1,320 MW power plant had already received their compensation and settled issues with the administration.

“Of the 512 hectares land targeted for the plant, 496 hectares have been formally acquired and handed over by the farmers. The trouble was, however, caused by the remaining handful, who were trying to misguide others too,” he said.

Jaypee Infratech, which has undertaken the task to set up the power station, is stated to have offered to shift their site to another place if the farmers continued to agitate.