By Maktoob
Cases were registered against 21 farmers after protesters in Jetpar village of Gujarat’s Morbi district burned effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on 17 September.
The farmers have been protesting for the past four months against a power transmission project linked to the BJP-led Gujarat government and industrialist Gautam Adani.
According to The Wire Hindi, the complaint was filed by the inspector of Morbi police station, following which a First Information Report (FIR) was immediately registered against 21 farmers.
The FIR alleges that the protest held in Jetpar village on 17 September was organised in opposition to celebrations marking Modi’s birthday.
According to the complaint, the accused farmers allegedly orchestrated a premeditated conspiracy to set fire to the effigies after sprinkling flammable liquid on a public road, thereby creating an atmosphere of terror. They have also been accused of disturbing public peace.
Farmers from Jetpar and around 35 neighbouring villages have been protesting since June against high-voltage electricity transmission lines being laid through their agricultural land.
The work of erecting towers for the high-tension electricity transmission lines is being undertaken by Halvad Transmission Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) company of Adani Energy Solutions Limited (AESL).
AESL is one of the country’s largest private-sector power transmission and distribution enterprises, The Wire reported.
Eight sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, have been invoked against the farmers in the FIR.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
