A situation of restlessness has been observed in Rajpura town since Sunday morning after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders faced the anger of the protesting farmers.
The disruption started when a district-level meeting in the morning was concluded in a dozen of BJP leaders being taken hostage in a house as farmers set siege to it and were not ready to give in.
Deputy inspector general of police Vikramjit Duggal and Patiala deputy commissioner Kumar Amit reached the spot to defuse the situation, however, the deadlock continued till a report was filed around midnight.
Farmers in Rajpura were protesting against the black farm laws in the morning causing a disturbance in the BJP meeting being carried by state general secretary Bhupesh Aggarwal at the Bharat Vikas Parishad building near the new grain market.
More police force was deported to the venue to rescue the BJP leaders after the number of protesters continued increasing.
Along with Aggarwal, district unit head Vikas Sharma and some other leaders took refuge in an adjacent house, from where a much terrified Aggarwal recorded a video claiming threat to his and party workers' lives.
Aggarwal and others were escorted safely by the police, but the local councillor Shanti Swarup turned unlucky. In a video from the incident that circulated on social media, Swarup was seen being hunted down by the protesters, tearing his clothes even though he was under police protection.
BJP State general secretary Subhash Sharma immediately rushed to Rajpura, who later in a press conference blamed the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for the mishap against the BJP leaders, alleging that Congress goons are trying to frighten minority Hindus in Punjab.
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The farmers soon reached the Lions Club where the press conference was being held and started another protest there.
Police could manage to safely take away Subhash Sharma from there.
Aggarwal later made a statement affirming that as scheduled BJP will hold a meeting in the area and after this, Aggarwal along with Subhash Sharma, Vikas Sharma, district president Harinder Kohli and half a dozen other local leaders assembled at a house situated in Arjun Colony and a meeting for held.
"500 farmers beat me up at the behest of DSP Tiwana. He deliberately sent me to the wrong side. No Police force accompanied me, my life is under threat. I called up the SSP several times but to no avail. DSP paid no heed to us. He did this deliberately," Bhupesh Aggarwal told news agency ANI.
Farmers arrived at the spot too in huge numbers and blocked the leader's way. Police were again deported and surrounded the house to provide security.
Subhash in a video from the house accused Congress of sending its workers to gherao the house.
“It’s like terrorism days in Punjab. Police are not acting against goons,” he said in the video.
Aggarwal incited farmers with intimidating language, said Farmer leader Prem Singh Bhangu. The morning incident happened when Aggarwal's bodyguard pointed a pistol at the farmers who were protesting peacefully, he added.
Meanwhile, the DC tried defusing the heated situation between farms and the BJP leaders.
Refusing allegations by Aggarwal, DSP JS Tiwana said that 100 police officers and 2 SHOs were deployed at the protest site. "It's a false allegation. 100 Police personnel & 2 SHOs were deployed. Farmers protested outside & they (BJP) held their program inside. They were brought out safely & were going in their vehicles. They might've been surrounded later. Nothing happened before us," said the DSP.
It was learnt that the BJP leadership had recklessly made calls to the home department and senior police officials.
Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma, early in the day had said: “This is an attack on democracy and not BJP. There is complete lawlessness in Punjab, as police have become mute spectators.”
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BJP leaders and events held by them have been targeted by farmers in Punjab in the last few months. On June 30, Rajya Sabha member Shwait Malik, who had arrived at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Bathinda, had to face the wrath of the farmers.