77 farmers jailed in second police crackdown this week

NOIDA: Beginning Wednesday night, police launched another crackdown and arrested 77 farmers, some of whom were among the 123 protesters released from jail just hours earlier, to stop them from organising another demonstration.
In response, Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer outfits, called for another march to Delhi via Yamuna and Noida-Greater Noida expressways on Friday. The farmers were arrested in two batches.
Thirty-four farmer leaders who had planned to camp overnight at the starting point of the Yamuna Expressway, called the ‘zero point', in Greater Noida were taken into custody and the protest site was cleared late on Wednesday night.
Cops took this action after Sukhbir Khalifa, chief of Bhartiya Kisan Parishad and part of the group at zero point, posted a video on his X account, appealing farmers across west UP to march to the Dalit Prerna Sthal along the Noida Expressway on Thursday morning.
"The intention of the administration is not good," Khalifa said in the video.
Other than Khalifa, prominent farmer leaders taken into custody for a second time this week include All India Kisan Sabha's Soren Pradhan and Veer Singh, and BKU-Tikait's Pawan Khatana. Rupesh Verma, district president of the All-India Kisan Sabha, alleged that some leaders were also rounded up from their houses.
"Police team arrived at zero point and arrested 15-20 farmers, including Sukhbir Khalifa and Soren Pradhan. In addition to this, 10 other farmer leaders were arrested from their homes in a midnight crackdown," he said.
Verma said a police team went to farmer leader Udal Arya's house in Greater Noida, broke their entry gate before arresting him and his wife.
"The farmers won't back down," Verma warned.
The second round of arrests were made on Thursday morning.
Sumit Tanwar, a farmer, said that protesters got to know about the arrests and tried to assemble at zero point. "All the men and women at the spot were taken to jail," he said.
Cops said the arrested farmers were sent to Luksar jail. Additional commissioner of police (law and order) Shivhari Meena said the arrests were made as prohibitory orders under Section 163 (unlawful assembly of five or more people) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) are in force in Noida.
"Demonstrations are not allowed. Police arrested 34 people on Wednesday night and 43 more people on Thursday morning from zero point. They were booked under Section 170 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences) of BNSS," Meena said.
The clampdown began just as UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath issued a warning on his X account. "Whether it's Gautam Budh Nagar, Aligarh, Sambhal, or any other district, no one will be allowed to spread disorder," the CM's tweet posted at 11.51pm on Wednesday read.
Farmers from west UP revived their demonstration this week after talks with the district administration and the three development authorities – Noida Authority, GNIDA and YEIDA -- failed. For years, farmers have been demanding higher compensation and 10% abadi (developed residential) plots in return for land acquired from them by the three authorities to carry out several projects in Noida. Protesters gathered in thousands on Nov 2 and marched towards Delhi but were blocked by police on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway close to the Chilla border. Denied entry into the capital, they called off the march by the evening but some of them stayed behind at the Dalit Prerna Sthal near the border to continue the protest.
Around 150 farmers were unexpectedly arrested and the protest site at the Sthal was cleared out on the morning of Nov 3.
On Wednesday, Nov 4, farmers from across districts poured into Greater Noida, demanding that the arrested protesters be released. Police agreed, and by the evening, 123 farmer leaders were out of Luksar jail.
Security stepped up
It is unclear if SKM's planned march to Delhi will throw off traffic on the Yamuna and Noida expressways on Friday as dozens of farmer leaders remain in jail.
But police said they have called in additional women's battalions and RPF personnel to step up deployment on Friday in case farmers gather in large numbers.
Thirteen PACs (provincial armed constabulary) are already in place, and all border routes and roads leading to the Sthal and zero point are being guarded.
"Around 5,000 security personnel will be deployed at different points across the district," a senior police officer said.
(With inputs from Advitya Bahl )