Farmer activist Navdeep Singh walks out of jail after getting bail

Ambala: Farmer activist Navdeep Singh walked out of Ambala Central Jail after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him bail in a case registered in connection with farmers' February 13 'Delhi Chalo' march. He was arrested by Haryana Police from Mohali on March 28 on various charges, including rioting and attempt to murder. Singh was welcomed by farmer leaders as he walked out of jail late on Tuesday night. Earlier, farmer leaders had said that they would gherao the office of the Ambala superintendent of police on Wednesday and Thursday to protest against Singh's arrest. However, they changed the plan after his release.

Singh, a native of Jalbera village near Ambala, became famous as the "water cannon man" for climbing atop a police water cannon in November 2020 during the farmers' agitation against the now-repealed farm laws. On February 13, farmers from Punjab led by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha began a march to Delhi to press their demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops. They were stopped by Haryana Police, who had set up barricades, including cemented blocks, on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway. The farmers clashed with police personnel and have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri points along the Punjab and Haryana border ever since. On July 10, the high court had ordered the Haryana government to remove the barricades at the Shambhu border within a week on "experimental basis". The court also directed the Punjab government to ensure that the protesters gathered in its territory are "duly controlled as and when the situation so requires". The Haryana government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court order.