A large number of farmers under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Fazilka on Wednesday over a disputed mutation case.The protesters also staged a dharna on the road outside the District Administrative Complex, disrupting traffic.The protest was led by BKU (Rajewal) state president Balbir Singh Rajewal. Addressing the gathering, Rajewal alleged that the Naib Tehsildar of Khuian Sarwar in Abohar subdivision had refused to sanction a mutation and marked a cross on the government record without citing any valid reason.He further alleged that a criminal case had been registered against the union’s Fazilka district president, Sukhmander Singh, who had accompanied the farmer to pursue the mutation. Rajewal condemned the registration of the case.He warned that if the case against the district president was not withdrawn and action was not taken against the Naib Tehsildar, the union would intensify its agitation and launch protests across the state.When contacted, Naib Tehsildar Navjeevan Chhabra dismissed the allegations and said he had sanctioned the mutation of the private land but was not authorised to sanction the mutation of provincial government land. He said the relevant record had been produced before him on July 14.Chhabra alleged that the BKU district president had started recording a video inside the office and attempted to disrupt official work, following which an FIR was registered against him.