Farmers's agitation: 62 detained, seven cases lodged

Superintendent of Police Om Prakash Tripathi, who has been transferred in the wake of the firing in the district that left five farmers dead, said the cases have been filed in connection with various incidents of violence.

Addressing a press conference along with the new Collector O P Srivastava, Tripathi said some persons have also been detained for heckling the previous Mandsaur Collector S K Singh in Berheda Pant area.

He said Town Inspector of Piplayamandi Anil Singh Thakur has been removed from field duties in connection with the firing on farmers.

Rakesh Choudhry has been transferred as the new town inspector.

Srivastava, who took charge today, said he is facing a "challenging situation".

"I am trying to understand the situation," he said.

Farmers in western Madhya Pradesh are protesting since June 1 demanding higher minimum support prices (MSP) for their produce, among others.

Five persons were killed on Tuesday as the farmers' agitation turned violent.

Farmers had yesterday resorted to violence and arson in western Madhya Pradesh despite prohibitory measures, posing a major challenge for Chouhan and providing a rallying point for the opposition parties.

In view of the volatile situation, the Centre had rushed 1,100 personnel of RAF to the violence-hit state where the farmers have been agitating for loan waiver and better crop prices.

The Chouhan government had sought to cool the tempers by announcing certain measures, including a loan settlement scheme for those cultivators who had defaulted on repayment of farm loan borrowed by them earlier.

The scheme will cover around six lakh farmers, with accumulated dues of Rs 6000 crore, according to the government.