SANGUEM
The 1.7-km stretch of road between Dando Junction and Sanguem town resembled a fortress on Wednesday morning, as over 200 police personnel stood guard to prevent the agitating farmers from causing any disruption during Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s visit to Sanguem.
On Tuesday night, the agitating farmers had demonstrated at Azad Maidan in Panaji and sought a hearing from Sawant during his visit to Sanguem on Wednesday.
Anticipating trouble, the Sough Goa Collector through an order on Tuesday night had imposed Section 144 in Sanguem town and Uguem village.
The farmers were unaware of the orders passed by the collector and proceeded to their usual sit-in agitation spot at Dando. They, however, noticed the police force and after being briefed about Section 144, returned to their homes.
Even though Section 144 was in force all around Sanguem town, a group of around 60 people conducted a rally in Sanguem and the agitating farmers were left to wonder if whether Section 144 was applicable only to them and not to any other organisation.
The rally was conducted in Sanguem town and the police were witness to the event, but no action was taken against the organisers or participants.
On the contrary, notices were reportedly issued by Sanguem Police to some farmers directing them to appear before the Sanguem Police Inspector for inquiry in the afternoon.
The farmers, however, refused to report to the police inspector on grounds that they had not done anything wrong and had not violated the order issued by the Collector.
Incidentally, over 60 policemen were seen in front of the house where the farmers have been staging their sit-in agitation for the last 15 days.
The agitating farmers decried the government’s attitude towards them.
“All that we had sought from the chief minister was a patient hearing for 5-10 minutes. However, the chief minister ignored our request but instead got Section 144 imposed in the locality during his visit to Sanguem,” complained a farmer.
