A 22-year-old farmer was allegedly killed during a clash with police on the Punjab-Haryana border as protesters resumed their ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation on Wednesday.
According to farmers, Shubhkaran Singh, 22, from Punjab’s Bathinda, was killed during a clash with Haryana Police who were firing tear gas shells on protesters. However, the Haryana Police has not confirmed the death of the protester.
Shubhkaran Singh joined other protesters at the Khanauri border on February 13, the day farmers kickstarted their march to Delhi to pressure the government on their demand for Minimum Support Price (MSP).
On Wednesday morning, Shubhkaran prepared breakfast for himself and other farmers at the Khanauri protest site. His fellow protesters said that Shubhkaran asked them to sit and have breakfast together, saying that they “might not get another chance to share a meal or sit together”.
Subhkaran was a resident of Baloke village in Bathinda. He is survived by two sisters, a grandmother and his father, Charanjeet Singh, who works as a school van driver.
Shubhkaran was also involved in animal husbandry. The young farmer owned approximately 3 acres of land and had some livestock.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann expressed his condolences over the death of Shubhkaran and assured that action would be taken against those responsible for it.
Haryana Police, who claimed that 12 of its officials were severely injured in the clash which took place at Khanauri border, has not confirmed the death of the young farmer.
A Haryana Police officer said around 12 police personnel were injured when they were attacked with lathis and stones thrown at them in Khanauri, located in Punjab’s Sangrur district, close to the border with Haryana’s Jind.
Notably, the farmers claimed that Haryana Police personnel fired rubber bullets, besides tear gas shells.
Thousands of farmers remain camped at Khanauri and Shambhu borders with their tractor-trolleys and trucks agitating for their demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops and farm debt waiver.
(With inputs from Kunal Bansal.)