Police detained leaders of the Akhil Bharatiya Babaria Samaj Sangathan Punjab at their homes on Monday, hours before Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann arrived at village Panjgrain Kalan in the Jaito assembly segment of Faridkot district for a Lok Milni programme. The community leaders had announced their intention to confront the CM over long-pending demands.Police reportedly conducted raids at the residence of the organisation’s provincial president Waheguru Singh in village Kabulwala and at the home of former provincial president Sarwan Singh Panjgrain in village Panjgrain Kalan, placing both leaders under house arrest as a precautionary measure. Raids were also reported at the residences of several other functionaries of the organisation.The Chief Minister reached Panjgrain Kalan at around 6.30 pm for the public interaction programme, ahead of which security arrangements across the area had been considerably tightened.The Babaria Samaj Sangathan had publicly announced its plan to meet the Chief Minister during the Lok Milni and raise the community’s grievances directly before him. The organisation alleged that during the 2022 Punjab assembly elections, the community had thrown its support behind the Aam Aadmi Party after the party gave its word that once in power, it would address the demands of the Babaria community on a priority basis. However, the leaders alleged that not only had those promises remained unfulfilled, but welfare facilities that the community was already receiving had been curtailed after the government came to power.Provincial president Waheguru Singh said that despite sustained agitation over the years, the community’s problems had found no redress. “This government neither pays heed to demands raised through protests nor is it willing to sit across the table for dialogue,” he said, demanding that the Chief Minister personally meet representatives of the Babaria community and find solutions to their problems.Police claimed that the preventive action had been taken to curb any disturbance to law and order during the CM’s visit.