Lahore, Apr 29 (PTI) Pakistan's Punjab government on Monday baton charged the protesting farmers and arrested over 200 of them including their provincial chief in Lahore amid the wheat procurement crisis.

After a bumper wheat in the Punjab province of over 120 million people, farmers have been complaining that the Maryam Nawaz government in the province is not purchasing wheat and flour mills are offering rates lower than the government-mandated support price for their crops.

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“As a large number of farmers were heading towards the Punjab Assembly in Lahore on Monday to stage a sit-in the police personnel pounced on them at GPO Chowk, Mall Road and arrested over 200 farmers,” a spokesperson for the Kissan Itehad Mian Omair told PTI.

He said the police used batons to disperse them in Lahore as all arrests have been in the city.

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The Kissan Board Punjab (KBP) President Mian Abdur Rasheed is among the arrested farmers.

The growers staged protests in several cities of Punjab on Monday as well and demanded the government increase the support price. The farmers said they would continue their protest till their demands are met.

On the other hand, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said that a political party (Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf of Imran) is doing politics on the issue of farmers.

“We will not let anyone do politics on this issue and protect the interest of farmers,” she said.

The farmers say their production costs have more than doubled in the last year but they are being forced to sell their produce at the last year's rates and even lower than that.

Official procurement has slowed as the previous caretaker government had imported wheat despite having a bumper crop. National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer said this decision was wrong and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has already ordered an inquiry into it.

Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan said as the minimum support price is Rs 3,900 per 40kg, the crop is being sold at Rs 3,200 in the open market because growers are not sure whether the food department will buy their produce.

The farmers have asked the government to procure at least five million tonnes of wheat in the current season and raise the support to Rs 5,000 per 40kg.

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