Farmers' Protest: Officials detain Bhim Army Chief to stop him from joining protest

New Delhi, Dec 08: Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad was on Tuesday detained at his home in Uttar Pradesh when he was on his way to join the farmers' protest who have called for a nationwide shutdown till 3 pm.

Earlier, Dalit leader Chandrashekhar Azad had joined the farmers protesting at Delhi's borders against the controversial farm laws. Azad slammed the government over the use of water cannons and tear gas when the protesters began their march to the national capital last month.

"The Centre tried to defame and stop the farmers' agitation...Our mothers, children, elderly were stopped (from marching to Delhi) with watercannons, barbed wires, tear gas...they (farmers) are not terrorists, they are the backbone of our country. We get food because of them...Such treatment (to farmers) shows how afraid the government is of the farmers' movement," Bhim Army Chief had said.

Farmers camping near Delhi, who began their protest about two weeks ago, have called for a nationwide strike today against the contentious laws, which they say will allow monopoly of private players in the farm sector. Almost all commercial transport and truck unions, though, have backed the call apart from the opposition parties.

On Tuesday mornning, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's AAP claimed that the Chief Minister was placed under house arrest because he met the protesters on Monday.

The AAP alleged that CM Kejriwal was deliberately blocked because of the Bharat Bandh called by farmers protesting against the central government's new farm laws.