Farmers burn effigies of Modi, Shah on PM's b'day; 21 booked

Ahmedabad: Twenty-one farmers in Gujarat's Morbi district have been booked by police for allegedly burning effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a protest in Jetpara village.

The incident took place on September 17, Modi's birthday, when protesting farmers allegedly set fire to the effigies as part of their agitation. Police have invoked charges including unlawful assembly, criminal conspiracy and causing obstruction to traffic.

The case was registered on September 18 following a complaint by Nilesh S. Ghethia, inspector at the Morbi taluka police station. Police said footage showing the effigy-burning came to their attention during a night patrol on September 17. An investigation subsequently established that the incident had taken place in Jetpara.

The farmers have been protesting in the Morbi region since June against high-tension electricity transmission lines being installed across agricultural land by Adani Energy Solutions. They fear the electricity towers will reduce cultivable land and have demanded higher compensation for the affected property.

The agitation had also included a hunger strike in Jetpara that lasted nearly two weeks, beginning on June 17, intensifying the farmers' campaign against the proposed transmission infrastructure.

Those named in the FIR include Nehul Amritiya, Harshad Chatur Aghara, Raju Bhudar Kandia, Deepak Natha Sakasaniya and Lalji Ghanshyam Sakasaniya. Several women farmers have also been named, while unidentified individuals have been included in the case.

Morbi police said notices would soon be issued to all those named in the FIR as the investigation proceeds.