Kerala - Alappuzha   

Paddy marketing officer gheraoed

Staff Reporter

22 BJP activists arrested

ALAPPUZHA: Twenty-two activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were arrested by the Pulinkunnu police here on Monday after they gheraoed Kuttanad Paddy Marketing Officer Balachandran at his office for over an hour demanding immediate payment for paddy procured from farmers. Those arrested were released on bail later.

According to the police, the BJP activists barged into the Paddy Marketing Office at Mankombu, near here , alleging that the Civil Supplies department had not paid around Rs.23 crore to paddy farmers in Kuttanad after procuring the crop from them through various rice mills.

The activists refused to budge until Mr. Balachandran agreed to pay the pending amount within two weeks, the police said.

BJP's Kuttanad Assembly constituency secretary K. Soman and president M.R. Sajeevan, who were among those arrested, later told the media that though the Civil Supplies had paid money to farmers for the crop procured till March 7, the payments for the crop procured after that till date were yet to be made.

Mr. Soman said the BJP would "completely halt the functioning" of the Kuttanad paddy office if the payments were not made before June 22. The Nationalist Karshaka Congress too staged a dharna at the same venue at the same time, on a peaceful note though.

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