Farmers threaten to hold auction officials hostage

Fatehabad, May 11 (UNI) Stiff resistance by the activists of the All India Kisan Sabha and All India Khet Mazdoor Union today forced the officials of the revenue department, who had gone to village Khunan in this district to auction agriculture land of a farmer, to retract.

The agitated farmers threatened the officials to keep them as hostages if they went ahead with their plans.

The land belonged to farmer Ghaghar Singh, who had taken a loan of Rs 1.12 lakh from the Oriental Bank of Commerce Limited, Fatehabad in the year 1992 for the purchase of a tractor by mortgaging his 65 kanal 18 marlas of agriculture land.

The farmer, who had repaid Rs 80,000, was requesting the bank to demand reasonable interest on the rest of the money, which he was ready to repay, but the bank insisted upon the payment of Rs 3.96 lakh as outstanding dues with 14 per cent interest.

The officials who reached the village today to execute orders of the SDM regarding open auction of Ghaghar Singh's land met stiff opposition from the farmers and returned.

The All India Kisan Sabha state secretary Harpal Singh decalred on the occasion that farmers would ''fight against repression unitedly'' and would not allow the government to auction their land.

The All India Khet Mazdoor Union state president Ram Kumar Bahbalpuria threatened to keep the officials coming to auction the land as hostages and alleged that the officials had connived with land mafia to auction the land worth Rs 50 lakhs for a paltry sum of Rs 4 lakhs.

UNI