Chandigarh (Punjab): Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday accused the central government of using "intimidatory tactics" against the "arhtiyas" supporting the agitating farmers and said it was indulging "vendetta politics".
According to an official release, the Chief Minister termed the income tax raids against some "arhtiyas" as an obvious pressure tactic to curb their democratic rights.
It said that 14 "arhtiyas" across Punjab received notices from the IT department, including Vijay Kalra (President, Punjab Arthiya Association), Pawan Kumar Goyal (President, Samana Mandi) and Jaswinder Singh Rana (Patiala district President).
"It is evident that having failed to persuade, mislead and divide the farmers into ending their prolonged protest, the central government is now trying to weaken their struggle by targeting the arhtiyas (middleman) who have been actively supporting the agitation since day one," he said.
He noted that IT raids were conducted at the premises of several big "arhtiyas" of Punjab within a span of just four days of issuing notices without waiting for responses to the notices.
"This is a clear debasement of the due process of law. Even the local police were not informed or taken into confidence, as is the normal procedure, and instead, the CRPF was used to provide security during the raids by the I-T teams," he added.