Road opens after Pjb crackdown on farmers

The Punjab Police on Thursday opened the arterial National Highway 44 and allowed traffic to flow through the interstate border with Haryana for the first time in 13 months, a day after it detained hundreds of farm leaders and demolished protest sites to dismantle the agitation.

- 

Authorities said that part of the stretch between Ambala and Rajpura on the of the key highway - it connects Srinagar to Kanyakumari that was closed since February 10, 2024 was opened for traffic at 6.30pm after police cleared the Shambhu protest site. At the Khanauri protest site, where agitators blocked National Highway 52 near Dhabi Gujran village on Punjab and Haryana border, police said traffic is likely to resume by Friday evening.

"The highway has been cleared by Punjab Police. Traffic movement has already set off. Our teams will stay stationed at the Shambhu barrier to keep the site safe and ensure a smooth flow of the traffic," said Patiala range deputy inspector general of police Mandeep Singh Sidhu.

The developments came even as a political controversy raged over the surprise dismantling of the protest site, with the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party hitting out at the state government, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) reaffirming its support to farmers, but emphasising the need to protect the state's economy.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh, in an official statement, said the party has always stood by farmers, recalling how the party opposed the now-repealed farm laws and how he was suspended from Parliament for raising farmers' concerns.However, he also stressed that indefinite road blockades were not a viable solution.

"The central government alone has the power to guarantee MSP. If it wants, it can resolve this issue within an hour," he said, urging farmers to take their demands directly to the Centre rather than disrupting normal life in Punjab.

Patiala Range DIG Mandeep Singh Sidhu said: "The highway has been cleared by police. Traffic movement has already started.