Farmers, APMC merchants clash

With the onion merchants sticking to their demand of auction in gunnysacks, a mob of around 500-600 farmers allegedly barged into a meeting of Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) directors and merchants and clashed with them in Lasalgaon on Wednesday. Irate farmers allegedly beat some of the merchants, resorted to stone pelting and even damaged furniture. However, the police denied of any violent incident and dismissed it as a “mild altercation” between the farmers and the merchants.

Lasalgaon APMC Director Rajendra Dokhale said, “The farmers first demanded that the auction of the onions be held in loose instead of gunnysacks as it pushes their expenditure. When refused, they began an altercation and later resorted to stone pelting, injuring some of our merchants. Rather than solving the issue through discussions, they resorted to violence. We are awaiting the government’s notification on this matter which is suppose to arrive by this week.”

When contacted, member of the Joint Action Group of Farmers Nanasaheb Patil and Onion Merchants’ leader Sohanlal Bhandari were unavailable for comment. As per sources, the APMC may remain shut on Thursday following the incident.