HYDERABAD: Thousands of turmeric far mers staged a dhar na at Mamidipally Chowrasta in Armoor division of Nizamabad despite police detaining their leaders and imposing Section 144 of CrPC in 11 mandals, on Tuesday. The farmers said they will stage another dharna on February 16.Farmers are demanding minimum support price for turmeric. In the open market, farmers get 4,000 per quintal but peg the production cost at around Rs 9,000 per quintal After the protest, farmers blocked National Highway 44 for two hours in the evening. However, police diverted the traffic in anticipation.“We tried to reach the dharna venue but were stopped at our village. But many far mers from Ar moor and Jakranpally reached the place of dharna on their own without any leaders,” Gopidi Ganga Reddy, from Nandipet mandal told TOI.Farmers alleged they were detained in their villages, and the police tried to threaten them with legal cases. Reportedly, 30 farmers and activists, who were supposed to begin an indefinite fast were arrested in Navipet, Renjal and Edapalli, before they reached the venue. A Tirupati Reddy, a farmer, said: “The phones of some leaders were switched off from morning, but we wanted to participate, and held the protest. More than 6,000 people have gathered, and there were around 3,000 police personnel around us. We told them we will hold the dharna peacefully.” Reportedly, farmers from 75 villages participated in the dharna. “We will again press for our demands even if police stops,” said G Narsareddy, who spoke at the dharna said. “We will block the National Highway next to our mandals.”

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