At least seven policemen, including District Superintended of Police R V Asari, were on Tuesday injured in stone pelting when cops tried to stop a farmers' rally near Sanand town in Gujarat.
Police resorted to lathicharge and lobbying of tear gas shells after senior police officials of the district were injured in stone pelting.
According to Asari, who received injury on his head, some agitating farmers hurled stones on the policemen deployed on Sanand-Nal Sarovar road, from where, farmers living near Nal Sarovar had planned to take out their rally till Gandhinagar to protest scarcity of irrigation water.
"To raise the issue of water supply, farmers living in villages near Nal Sarovar had announced to take a rally till Gandhinagar today, for which, police had already denied them permission. When the rally reached near Sanand, we tried to convince some of their leaders not to go ahead," said Asari.
He claimed that unidentified persons in the rally resorted to violence after their leaders agreed to stop the rally at Sanand.