They reportedly manhandled Revenue staff who visited the village to survey the notified land and burnt a copy of the order of the Deputy Commissioner directing the staff to conduct the survey.
There was a scuffle between agitating farmers and survey officials, and Farhatabad police intervened and arrested five persons including Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (Narayana Gowda) district unit president Arunkumar Patil and four farmers. They were remanded to judicial custody for 15 days.
The police have filed a number of cases against the five persons including attempt to murder and criminal intimidation.
Over the last few months, the farmers have been stoutly opposing acquisition of their fertile lands for the the coal-based 1320 MW thermal plant. The government has already issued a notification for the acquisition of 1,516 acres of land.
The Deputy Commissioner conducted recently a meeting of the farmers of the three villages where lands are being acquired. Of the 208 farmers who attended the meeting, only one agreed to part with his land.