Picture : Twitter / ANI
The railways has deployed 20 additional companies of the Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) across the country, with focus on Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, in the wake of the ‘rail roko’ by farmer groups protesting against the Centre’s new agri laws.
“It’ll begin at 12 pm & go on till 3-4 pm. Trains aren’t plying anyway. It’ll be done peacefully. We’ll provide water, milk, lassi & fruits to people who will be found stranded. We will tell them our issues” said Rakesh Tikait, Bharatiya Kisan Union as quoted by ANI.
Director General, Railway Protection Force, Arun Kumar had earlier said, “I appeal to everyone to maintain peace. We will be liaisoning with district administrations and will have a control room in place.”
“We will gather intelligence. States such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, and some other areas will be our focus. We have deployed 20 companies of the Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) in these areas,” he said.
“We want to persuade them to not cause inconvenience for passengers. We have a four-hour window and we want it (rail roko) to get over peacefully,” Kumar said.
Farmers are protesting against the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.
