India, Sept. 22 -- Police fired tear-gas shells and used water cannons to stop farmers and activists of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni) from blocking the Delhi-Chandigarh highway (NH-44) at Shahbad in Kurukshetra on Tuesday afternoon. Traffic on both sides of the national highway was halted after several protesters breached barricades to reach the road.

Several union leaders and office-bearers were reportedly detained, while other protesters faced water cannons and police forces on Barara Road.

The protest, led by BKU president Gurnam Singh Charuni, gathered near the Shaheed Udham Singh statue after the union's deadline for the government to begin paddy procurement by September 20 expired.

Kurukshetra deputy commissioner Vishram Mee...