Shambhu and Khanauri borders cleared after a year; Dallewal and Pandher detained

Punjab Police on Wednesday, March 19, cleared the farmers' protest sites at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders. Both highways had been blocked for more than a year by farmers demanding a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP).

Police removed barricades, vehicles and temporary structures, and bulldozers uprooted the farmers' tents.

More than a dozen farmer leaders were detained, including Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who had been on a fast unto death since November.

The two were detained as they returned to Punjab after talks in Chandigarh with Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi. The meeting, which lasted more than three hours, ended without a result.

Farmer unions strongly condemned the action and announced protests. The government says the blocked highways had been causing heavy losses to Punjab's trade and to ordinary people.