Six farmers slapped notice worth Rs 50 lakh; revised to Rs 50,000 later

Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district administration issued notices to six farmers leaders asking them to submit personal bonds of Rs 50,000 each for breach of peace at the protest against the new farm laws, said an official on Thursday.

"We've got a report from the Hayatnagar police station that some persons are inciting farmers and there can be breach of peace, and they should be asked to fill personal bonds of Rs 50 lakh each," Subdivisional Magistrate Deependra Yadav said.

The farmers said the amount was too high, following which the police station in-charge gave another report and reduced the penalty to Rs 50,000 worth of personal bonds, added Yadav.

The six farmers implicated in the case include Bharatiya Kisan Union (Asli) district president Rajpal Singh Yadav and farmer leaders Jaiveer Singh, Brahmachari Yadav, Satendra Yadav, Raudas and Veer Singh.

The notices have been issued under Section 111 (magistrate order against any person who is likely to commit breach of peace) of the Code of Criminal Procedure on the basis of a report submitted by police, the official said.

BKU (Asli) leader Rajpal Singh Yadav said the farmers won't fill the bonds, come what may. "They can hang us or send us to jail. We're fighting for the rights of farmers", he added.