Authorities struggled to restore normalcy in violence-hit western Madhya Pradesh even as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday made an attempt to reach the epicentre of the farmers' agitation, Mandsaur, which was scuttled as he was detained before entering the district.
Gandhi travelled by air, car, motorcyle and later by foot from Delhi to Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh via Rajasthan before he was detained and arrested in Naya Gaon, about 70 kms from Mandsaur.
He slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the problems being faced by the farmers, evoking a sharp response from the Bharatiya Janata Party which termed his visit to Mandsaur as a "photo opportunity".
Amid the increasing political slugfest, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, which is facing a major crisis, shunted out the collector and superintendent of police of Mandsaur district, two days after five farmers were killed in police firing during a violent protest.
A police inspector, who had allegedly fired at the protestors on Tuesday, was also removed from field duty and sent to police lines.
Besides Mandsaur, violence had also hit Dewas, Neemuch, Ujjain districts and some other parts of western MP.
On Wednesday morning, Rapid Action Force, the anti-riot paramilitary force rushed by the Centre, was deployed in Mandsaur, the epicentre of the eight-day-old farmers' agitation for debt relief and better crop price.
The Centre had rushed 1,100 personnel of the RAF to the violence-hit state.
While two companies of the RAF, each comprising 100 personnel, were deployed in Pipliamandi in Mandsaur, where the five farmers were killed, another two were posted in Garoth.
Two RAF companies were deployed along the highway.
Contingents of the CRPF have also been deployed.
Curfew, imposed on Wednesday after escalating violence, was relaxed for two hours from 4 pm, as officials said the situation appeared to be improving.
The police, however, said some areas were still tense.
Divisional Commissioner M B Ojha said, "For the last two to three days, farmers were stopping vehicles and setting them on fire."
Burnt vehicles were removed from the Mhow-Neemuch highway today, and traffic had resumed, police said.
Police said seven cases were lodged and 62 people detained in connection with the violence.
They said investigations have found that "stone throwers and some anti-social elements" had also joined the protest.
The state's Home Minister Bhupendra Singh said that the five farmers had been killed in police firing, a remark that assumes significance as the authorities had earlier claimed the police did not fire during the protests.
He said Pipliamandi Town Inspector Anil Singh Thakur, who had allegedly fired at the farmers causing casualties, had been removed from field duty and sent to the Mandsaur police lines.
To bring back normalcy, the chief minister made a fresh attempt to reach out to the agitating farmers, saying the state government was open for a dialogue to iron out the differences and once again appealed them to maintain peace.
Appealing to the farmers to maintain calm, he said, "Only talks can end the differences."
He said, "The state government is of farmers and public. I will continue to work for them."
His fresh attempt to reach out to the farmers came on a day Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by few senior leaders of the state and Janata Dal-United's Sharad Yadav, tried to make their way to Mandsaur through the Rajasthan border.
There was high drama as the police tried to stop what had turned into a rally of sorts with Gandhi leading from the front. When police tried to push him back, he ran into a field nearby from where he was detained.
Gandhi was released after over four hours of detention in the guest house of a cement company.
"Rahul Gandhi, along with around 250 Congress leaders, were under preventive arrest under under Section 151 of CrPC. We had informed them that there is curfew in four police station areas and they should not go there. Despite this, they tried to move towards the area," SP (Neemuch) Manoj Kumar Singh said.
They were later released on the border, he said.
Just before his detention, the Congress vice president said Prime Minister Narendra Modi "can't give the right rates for farmers' agriculture produce, can't give them bonus, can't give them compensation... He can only give them bullets."
Later in the evening, Gandhi met the kin of four of the five deceased farmers who were brought to Rajathan's Chittorgarh district by Congress workers.
He lashed out at the BJP governments in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for stopping him from visiting Mandsaur and demanded martyr status for the farmers who were killed in the "barbaric" police action.
Talking to reporters, he said, "I wanted to meet the families for two minutes to say that we are with them, but I was not allowed. I only wanted to share their grief....Am I not a citizen of this country? Am I not allowed to visit Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and other (BJP ruled) states just because I do not belong to the RSS?"
He attacked the Modi government, saying it has forgotten the farmers and was only interested in waiving the debt of "50 richest people" of the country.
"The farmers in the county are desperately crying for help but the government is not ready to hear them," he said.
He supported the farmers' demand for loan waiver and said that they were not getting their due.
Gandhi said that the loan waiver in Uttar Pradesh had come as he had mounted pressure on the BJP government on the issue.
"I will continue to press every government across the country to waive farmers' loans. I will keep raising the issue in Parliament," he said.
He accused the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government of lying on the issue of farmers death in police firing.
Action should be taken against the security personnel involved in the firing incident. The farmers were not warned and were shot in the chest in violation of all standing operation procedures, he alleged.
He also slammed the BJP for saying that he had gone for a 'photo-op' there, arguing, "I only wanted meet the farmers. What was the need for controversy?"
He added that government can waive loans of Rs 1.10 lakh crore of 50 rich people in the country, then why the loans of those farmers who feed the nation cannot be waived.
Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh government today conveyed to the Centre that five farmers were killed in Mandsaur in police firing, ending the confusion on who had fired at the protesters.
In a report submitted to the home ministry, the state government said the protesting farmers, demanding loan waiver, had allegedly set ablaze 25 trucks and two police vans along the Mhow-Neemuch highway on Tuesday.
