Haryana police on Friday aborted a bid by the farmers of Hisar to join the protest at the Khanauri border of Punjab, resulting in a scuffle when security personnel tried to take away the keys of the protesters’ tractors.

The tension was localised though it had prolonged for a couple of hours even as an uneasy calm prevailed at the Khanauri and Shambhu protest sites along the Punjab-Haryana border.

There was no word on when the fifth round of talks between the central ministers and farmers will take place to find a meeting ground on the key demand for an MSP guarantee law. But, a new issue has cropped up following the death of 23-year-old
Shubhkaran Singh at Khanauri on Wednesday allegedly because of police action on the protesters as they tried to resume their march towards Delhi.

The farmer union leaders are insisting on an FIR against the Haryana police personnel who are alleged to have shot Shubhkaran and not allowing consent to be given for the post-mortem to establish the cause of death. They have rejected the Punjab government’s offer of Rs 1 crore compensation to the family and a job for his sister.

Late in the night, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) — one of the collectives spearheading this agitation — announced that the future course of action would be decided on February 28.