Bathinda/Sangrur, March 6 -- The ongoing war in the Middle East has triggered panic buying of diesel in rural parts of various Malwa districts, including Bathinda, Sangrur and Barnala, in anticipation of the upcoming harvest season.

A farmer at a fuel station in Goneana, Bathinda, said farmers were stocking fuel used to run harvest combines and tractors for sowing the next crop in April after wheat harvest.

In Barnala's Dhanaula, Tekveer Singh, the owner of Guru Nanak filling station, said they had sold fuel worth around Rs.13 lakh in a single day, three times higher than the regular sale of Rs.4-5 lakh. "We tried our best to discourage customers from panic buying, but they wouldn't listen," he added.

Vinod Bansal, a petrol pump dealer...