Cops, farmers injured in clash over land compensation in Punjab’s Bathinda

More than 10 police personnel and a number of farmers were injured in a clash over inadequate land compensation for the Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway under the Bharatmala project at Shergarh in the district today.

Officials of the district administration accompanied by the police force had taken possession of an 8-km stretch at Dunewala, Shergarh and Bhagwangarh villages in the district yesterday. Dissatisfied over the compensation offered, farmers under the banner of the BKU-Ekta Ugrahan gave a call for taking back the possession at Dunewala village.

Heavy police deployment was made to prevent the farmers from marching towards the site. Today, irate farmers broke through the barricading but were stopped near the village.

Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Shaukat Ahmed Parray said 10 to 12 policemen were injured as they were attacked with stones and sticks.

An 8-km stretch of the expressway is to pass through the district and a compensation of nearly Rs 1,400 crore has already been given in two parts. The farmers here had been paid at the rate of Rs 50 lakh per acre under the norms, while those whose land fell close to the nearby national highway had received Rs 70 lakh per acre.