Six held for stubble burning in Saharanpur, FIRs filed in Mau, Varanasi and Azamgarh

In Hardoi, police on Tuesday lodged an FIR against 15 people for allegedly burning crop stubble. They have been booked under various sections of the IPC, including 278 (making atmosphere noxious to health), 290 (punishment for public nuisance) and 291 (continuance of nuisance after injunction to discontinue).

Sub-Inspector (Mallawan) Sompal Gangwar said they are yet to arrest them.

Two days ago, Varanasi police arrested a farmer for allegedly burning stubble at Jogiyapur village. Similar FIRs have also been lodged against half-a-dozen people in Mau and Azamgarh districts.

Meanwhile, the Congress has demanded immediate release of all the farmers arrested over stubble burning.
State Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said that the state government was lodging cases and harassing farmers in the name of checking the menace of stubble burning. He claimed that 16 farmers had been sent to jail in Saharanpur alone over the past week, while “hundreds” of others forced to flee to evade arrest, adding that it was “deplorable”.

Lallu asked the government to stop the “atrocities” on farmers and instead take steps for resolving their problems, warning that the party would be forced to come onto the streets to protest against the alleged harassment of farmers.

With PTI inputs