A group of Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana (SSS) activists led by MP Raju Shetti and Sadabhau Khot on Monday ransacked the office of the sugar commissioner at Sakhar Sankul in Shivajinagar, Pune.
A group of Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana (SSS) activists led by MP Raju Shetti and Sadabhau Khot on Monday ransacked the office of the sugar commissioner at Sakhar Sankul in Shivajinagar, Pune. The group was agitating for sugarcane prices to be as per the Fair & Remunerative Price (FRP).
Mr Shetti and 141 others were taken into custody by Shivajinagar police as the situation spiraled out of control. They were produced before the court and granted bail and released on a personal bond of '10,000 each. The cops have registered a case for causing chaos and disturbance in government work.
It started in the morning with activists going to meet authorities in the Sugar Commissioner’s office but the lack of response angered them after which they ended up ransacking the Sakhar Sankul office and setting an ambassador car in the parking area on fire. It was seventy days since the sugarcane crushing season had begun with nearly 375 lakh metric tonnes sugarcane having been crushed so far. Sugar factories had not paid rates according to the FRP which is why the agitation had taken place.
CM Devendra Fadnavis said that while the SSS always agitated for farmers and there was nothing surprising about it, there should not have been any violence. “I appeal to them to agitate peacefully. No doubt the FRP issue is important and the state government is thinking about it and we will find some solution as soon as possible,” he said.
