Hundreds of farmers, including women, staged a protest outside the SSP office in Patiala on Thursday, raising slogans against the Punjab Government and the Punjab Police over alleged detention and arrest of farm activists during Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s recent “Shukrana Yatra” in the district.The protesters termed the police action a human rights violation and accused the state government of using the police as a political weapon to suppress the voice of the peasants.They alleged that the police actions reflected “authoritarian rule and vindictive politics” in Punjab and warned the AAP government of intensifying protests if such actions were not immediately stopped by the government.Addressing the gathering Jaswinder Singh Longowal of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Azad) alleged that the Punjab Police had conducted raids at the residences of farm leaders on May 8, ahead of the Chief Minister’s visit on May 9 and detained several activists.He also alleged that a DSP-rank officer misbehaved with a local journalist while he was covering the incident.The protesters further alleged that Makhan Singh Daunkalan, an activist of BKU (Azad), was arrested and booked at Sadar police station before being kept at Bahadurgarh police post. They claimed that pressure tactics were used against him and alleged that he was later released on bail after intervention of the farm organisations.They also demanded legal action against those allegedly involved in the theft of farmers’ trolleys and belongings during the Shambhu border agitation.