Pune: Police shoot at farmers protesting against land acquisition, kill six

Six people killed in police firing and at least seven others were injured when a farmers’ agitation opposing land acquisition turned violent here Tuesday afternoon, police said.

According to a police control room official, thousands of farmers blocked the old Mumbai-Pune Highway and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, resulting in a tailback of vehicles at least 10-km-long, on both highways in either direction.

As the police attempted to remove the protestors squatting on the roads in Bahur village of the Maval sub-district, some started pelting stones at police vehicles and attacked other security personnel, injuring at least six.

Initially, police attempted to control the mobs by firing in the air. When this failed, police fired at the crowd, killing one person.

His identity and other details were awaited.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh state leader Balasaheb Pingle told mediapersons that the state government was indifferent to the farmers' demands in the matter of land acquisition for laying a pipeline between the Pavna Dam in Maval to Pune city.

He said the villagers had been agitating peacefully for the past few days and blamed the police for today’s violent turn in the situation.

Meanwhile, over two dozen vehicles, including two police vans, were badly damaged in the agitation.