The Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Wednesday condemned an alleged police brutality on farmers protesting against the installation of high-tension electricity lines near Farakka in Murshidabad as a part of a power project owned by the Adani Group and announced that a fact-finding team would be sent to the area in the third week of July.

An umbrella organisation of several farmers’ associations, the SKM had spearheaded the 380-day-long protests against three central farm laws, forcing the Narendra Modi government to repeal them.

“SKM is dismayed that the ruling party of West Bengal, which openly professes to be a supporter of the farmers movement, is using brute force, lathi-charge and intimidation tactics against farmers, many of whom, including women, have reportedly been seriously injured,” read a statement signed by SKM office-bearers Dr Darshan Pal, Hannan Mollah, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Yudhveer Singh and Yogendra Yadav.

Residents of Dadantola in Farakka were allegedly assaulted by the police on Saturday while they were protesting against the installation of high tension power lines, which they think is “too risky”.

Seven villagers, mostly farmers, and an equal number of police personnel were injured.

The erection of high-tension electricity lines is to supply electricity from an Adani Group-owned power plant in Jharkhand’s Godda district to Bangladesh as part of a bilateral trade agreement. The Adani Group has maintained that it got the necessary consent from the farmers in the area.

The SKM alleged that while the farmers had openly expressed unwillingness to allow the felling of their “very mature fruiting trees”, the administration had “unleashed a reign of terror in the locality”.

The men have been forced to escape, providing an opportunity to the ‘brokers and agents’ of Adani Group to chop down mango and litchi trees, the farmers have alleged.

According to sources, as many as 20 mango and litchi trees were cut on Sunday to install the towers 84 and 85, thereby completing the Dadantola segment of the project.

“SKM reminds Chief Minister Smt. Mamata Banerjee that corporates like Adani Group are most likely the ‘inspiration’ of the anti-farmer black laws that the Modi Govt at the Centre was forcefully trying to impose on farmers,” the SKM statement read.

The statement concludes with four demands. First, the work of the grid power-line erection should be stopped “in areas where farmers have expressed unwillingness”.

The second and the third demands are that the government hold dialogues with unwilling farmers and withdraw “false cases” against them.

Finally, the SKM sought the administration’s cooperation when its fact-finding team reached Farakka.