Nabha: In a dramatic turn of events, two missing trolleys and other goods belonging to farmers of the Sambhu Morcha were recovered late Friday night from the workshop of a senior Aam Aadmi Party leader in Nabha. The recovery comes nearly five months after the trolleys disappeared from the protest site, sparking fresh controversy and political uproar in Punjab.
The Sambhu-Khanauri-Barkara morcha, which lasted over 13 months, had seen farmers camping on highways with their trolleys, tractors, and essential items. On March 19, when farmer leaders were called to Chandigarh for a meeting, several trolleys and goods worth crores allegedly went missing from the site. Farmers accused both the government and police of negligence, and since then, leaders of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta) had been searching for the stolen property.
On Friday, BKU (Ekta) workers claimed a breakthrough when they discovered four tires, a lift pump, cooking oil, and the red casing of a trolley at the Nabha workshop. State president Jaswinder Singh Longowal displayed photographs of the missing trolley to journalists, pointing out that the rims and tires recovered matched the ones seen in earlier pictures.
As word spread, farmers staged a protest outside the workshop that continued until midnight. Under mounting pressure, the police seized the recovered goods and initiated action after receiving a written complaint from farmer leaders.
The discovery has triggered a political storm, with opposition parties accusing AAP of betraying Punjab’s farmers. Questions are being raised about how stolen items from a historic farmers’ protest could end up in the possession of a ruling party leader.
While the police have confirmed the recovery and said further investigation is underway, farmer unions have vowed to continue their struggle until all missing property is traced and those responsible are held accountable.