Police in Belagavi arrested Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha president Chunappa Pujeri and other farmer leaders on Thursday before they could begin a planned ‘Jail Bharo’ protest demanding a higher price for sugarcane, while prohibitory orders were imposed across the city.
The arrests took place at Mukti Math, about 15 km from Belagavi, where Pujeri and other organisers had stayed overnight after a farmers’ march on Wednesday. The group was preparing to start the protest on Thursday morning when police arrived at the math premises and took those present into custody as a preventive measure.
A larger group of farmers was expected to gather around 11 am to begin the agitation. Many farmers who had participated in Wednesday’s march had returned home overnight, leaving only a smaller group at the math when the arrests were made. Police later dispersed people who had gathered at the location.
The protest leaders were demanding a sugarcane price of ₹5,500 per tonne. Pujeri was seen in a video being escorted away by police while wearing a green shawl. According to the report, he continued raising demands during the arrest, including a factory payment of ₹4,500 per tonne, a ₹1,000 incentive from the state government and an increase in the central government’s minimum support price to ₹60.
The preventive arrests followed a late-night meeting convened by district in-charge minister Satish Jarkiholi with sugarcane growers and representatives of sugar factories. Factory representatives said they would pay ₹3,600 per tonne and that a second instalment would be announced if sugar sale prices increased, according to the report. Jarkiholi advised farmers to accept the arrangement and begin the crushing season.
Some farmer organisations agreed to the proposal, but a larger group, including Pujeri’s organisation, rejected it. The disagreement has left the start of the sugarcane season tied to a continuing dispute over the price growers will receive and the conditions for any additional payment.
Police Commissioner Prakash Nikam imposed prohibitory orders across Belagavi as a preventive step. The action affected the planned protest in the city, while the arrest of Pujeri prompted farmers to stage sudden road blockades at several places in the district, according to the report.
The immediate dispute centres on the difference between the ₹3,600 per tonne offered by factories and the higher price sought by the protesting farmers. The administration’s next steps will depend on whether the proposed payment arrangement can secure wider acceptance among grower organisations and whether the road blockades continue across the district.
