A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician and other party functionaries were held hostage by farmers in the Indian state of Haryana on Friday after they went there to attend a live broadcast of an event involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Politician Manish Grover is a former lawmaker of the Haryana state assembly from Rohtak District.
The Indian Prime Minister on Friday unveiled a 12ft statue of spiritual leader Adi Guru Shankaracharya in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand. He also announced several infrastructure projects for Uttarakhand state.
The BJP members had gone to Rohtak to watch the event being broadcast live, when some farmers opposing three farm laws passed by the federal government staged a protest against the BJP gathering. Soon, they were holding the local politicians hostage.
According to the deputy commissioner of Rohtak, Capt Manoj Kumar, the politicians were released after the matter was resolved amicably after talks with the villagers.
Meanwhile, heavy security has been deployed in the area to avoid any other untoward incident.
Back in May, India's female wrestler-turned-BJP politician Babita Phogat was shown black flags by farmers in Haryana when she visited Charkhi Dadri city to address the public.
Thousands of farmers have been protesting against the federal government's three farm laws at three border points - Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri - outside Delhi since 26 November last year.
More than 40 farmers' organisations are protesting against the passage of three laws: The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020; and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.