Mandsaur violence: PM Narendra Modi chairs meet with top ministers, Centre rushes additional forces to Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Wednesday apprised of the situation in Mandsaur after which he chaired a meeting with senior ministers to discuss the situation in the Madhya Pradesh city. 

After the prime minister's meet, the central government rushed two of each Additional CRPF and RAF to Mandsaur, a India Today report said. On Tuesday, the Madhya Pradesh Home Ministry had written to the Union Home Ministry seeking extra forces to tackle the situation.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah too was apprised of the situation in Mandsaur on phone by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

CM Chouhan had yesterday appealed for peace to the agitating farmers in the state and also announced a compensation of Rs. one crore to the kin of those killed in the violence.

Mandsaur District Magistrate Swatantra Kumar Singh and Indore Superintendent of Police O.P. Tripathi were roughed up by a mob when they reached Barkheda Pant in Mandsaur where farmers were squatting on a road with the body of one of those killed on Tuesday.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit Madhya Pradesh's violence-hit Mandsaur district on June 8 to meet the kin of the five persons who were killed in violence during the farmers' agitation.

Internet services in Mandsaur, Ratlam and Ujjain remain suspended following the farmers' protests, and a curfew has also reportedly been imposed.

Earlier today, hundreds of angry farmers blockaded roads and attacked two top officials at Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh as their leaders claimed that eight people died in police firing a day earlier.

The farmers in the central state are demanding remunerative prices for their produce and a loan waiver. They are also demanding that they should be given Rs. 50 per litre of milk bought from them as they spend Rs. 37 per litre. 

Yesterday, at least five persons were killed as the farmers' agitation turned violent in Mandsaur, prompting the authorities to clamp curfew in the trouble-hit area.

Mandsaur has been on the boil since the farmers' agitation in the district turned violent.

Farmers in western Madhya Pradesh are protesting since June 1 over various demands.

The protesters demanding better crop prices, among other things, "heckled" Mandsaur collector this morning when he tried to pacify them.

Also, former MP from Mandsaur, Meenakshi Natarajan, was detained when she was on her way to meet the family members of the deceased.