Around 500 potato farmers held demonstrations and staged road blockades at Dhupguri in Jalpaiguri district on Saturday to protest against the Bengal government's ban on the sale of the produce outside the state.

The farmers had a skirmish with police and the blockades were withdrawn after they were told that the subdivisional officer of Dhupguri would speak to them.

On Saturday afternoon, the potato farmers assembled at the regulated market in Dhupguri. They dumped the potatoes on AH48 and blocked the highway, hampering traffic.

“The police are stopping us from sending our produce to other states. On one hand, we could not send potatoes outside Bengal. On the other hand, the wholesale merchants here are not buying potatoes in adequate quantities from us. We will bear the losses,” said Ismail Hossain, a potato farmer.

A police team led by G. Lepha, the subdivisional police officer of Dhupguri, reached the spot. When the police tried to disperse the farmers, the agitators and law enforcers clashed.

After around 45 minutes, the highway was cleared.

The farmers, however, didn’t relent and went to Market More, another crossing in Dhupguri town, and raised a road blockade.

“How can the police stop us from selling out produce? We have informed the administration many times but nothing has changed. We should be allowed to send our produce to other states or else, we will resume our movement,” said Aziz Hossain, another farmer.

The police went to the spot and after some time. The farmers lifted the road blockade when they were told that the SDO would speak to them on the issue.

Jalpaiguri district magistrate Shama Parveen claimed the police were not stopping trucks carrying potatoes to other states. “We are looking into the issue,” she said.

Following the surge in potato prices in Bengal, the state agricultural marketing department had banned the movement of potatoes to other states. “Unless prices of potatoes become stable, potatoes produced in the state cannot be sent to other states,” Becharam Manna, the minister of state for agricultural marketing, had said.