Hundreds of farmers gathered on a key road in Noida in Uttar Pradesh in a protest demonstration on Friday, prompting deployment of police in riot gear that kept them from proceeding towards Delhi. The farmers were at the Noida Gate in Sector 14A near Chilla, at the UP-Delhi border, where they were stopped by the Gautam Buddh Nagar police around 12 noon, officials said. The farmers under the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) banner are protesting the farm sector bills, alleging they were "anti-farmer" legislations.

Karnataka's bandh call

Farmers in Karnataka also staged demonstrations across the state on Friday as part of a 'bandh' call given by several outfits to protest the 'anti-farmer' policies of the central and state governments. A large number of ryots from various parts of the state flocked to the state capital to take part in the protests against the amendments to the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act and the Karnataka Land Reforms Act.