The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has deputed 20 IPS officers as nodal heads of sensitive districts in wake of the nationwide bandh called by farmers on October 18 in protest against the deaths of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri. The officers will reach out to farmers and dissuade them from joining the agitation.

Additional DG, law and order, Prashant Kumar said that the leave of all officers in the state has been canceled till October 18. In villages that have the presence of prominent farmer leaders, senior officials will meet and establish communication.

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The 20 IPS officers include ADG Lucknow zone S.N. Sabat and IG Lucknow range Laxmi Singh. Both will camp in Lakhimpur Kheri.

In Bahraich, ADG Gorakhpur zone Akhil Kumar, DIG Devipatan Rakesh Singh, and Superintendent of Police (SP) – PAC Bareilly Ashutosh Shukla will be stationed.

Inspector General Meerut range Praveen Kumar will be stationed at Ghaziabad. DIG Railways Satyendra Kumar Singh will be in Shamli. In Pilibhit, IG Bareilly Range Ramit Sharma, SP UP 112, Ajay Pal, and ASP Anil Kumar Jha from the DGP headquarters will be stationed.

DIG, EOW, Hiralal has been asked to camp in Muzaffarnagar, and DIG Vigilance L.R. Kumar will be stationed in Amroha. In Shahjahanpur, DIG Ravi Shankar Chabbi and ASP Ram Suresh have been deputed.

Special security measures are in place for Tuesday when the ‘antim ardas’ of the farmers who died in the October 3 incident in Lakhimpur takes place.

The post-death rituals are being collectively held on a large scale and farmers from several districts are expected to attend the event.

The Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of multiple farmers’ unions, has called for a ‘rail roko’ agitation on October 18 to protest against the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh.

The farmers plan to burn effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah on Dussehra (October 15), to mark their protest, Yogendra Yadav announced on Saturday.

The call to strike comes as the Uttar Pradesh government is facing major flak over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Two SUVs ran over farmers who were coming out of a protest against the Centre’s three farm laws on October 3.

The agitated farmers are demanding the immediate resignation of Union minister Ajay Mishra, whose son is allegedly involved in the violence.

(With IANS inputs)