Large gatherings banned in Karnal ahead of Kisan Mahapanchayat

Prohibitory orders have been issued for Karnal, banning large gatherings. At least 40 companies of additional forces have been deployed near the protest site. Of these, 10 companies are that of paramilitary forces.

Massive security arrangements have been made in Haryana's Karnal ahead of the Kisan Mahapanchayat later today. The Mahapanchayat is being held against the police lathi-charge on farmers on August 28.

Prohibitory orders have been issued for Karnal, banning large gatherings. At least 40 companies of additional forces have been deployed near the protest site. Of these, 10 companies are that of paramilitary forces.

Traffic on National Highway 44, which connects Delhi to Chandigarh, has diverted from Karnal. 

Internet and SMS services were suspended in and around the protest venue from Monday afternoon till midnight on Tuesday. Mobile internet services were also blocked in  Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind and Panipat districts.

Senior police officials have appealed to farmer organizations to protest peacefully and not to take the law into their hands.

Karnal has one of the epicentres of the farmers' protest against the Centre's farm laws.

Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union chief Gurnam Singh Charuni, who held discussions with the Karnal administration on Monday, said that the farmers would go ahead with their Mahapanchayat as planned.

The farmers had also planned on blocking the Delhi-Ambala National Highway. However, a local court passed directives, restraining farmer leaders from disrupting public order and blocking the highway.