Farmer activist Navdeep Singh walks out of jail after getting bail

Farmer activist Navdeep Singh walked out of Ambala Central Jail after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him bail in a case registered in connection with farmers' 13 February 'Delhi Chalo' march.

He was arrested by Haryana Police from Mohali on 28 March on various charges, including rioting and attempt to murder.

Singh was welcomed by farmer leaders as he walked out of jail late on Tuesday night, 16 July.

Earlier, farmer leaders had said that they would gherao the office of the Ambala superintendent of police on Wednesday and Thursday to protest against Singh's arrest. However, they changed the plan after his release.

Singh, a native of Jalbera village near Ambala, became famous as the "water cannon man" for climbing atop a police water cannon in November 2020 during the farmers' agitation against the now-repealed farm laws.

On 13 February, farmers from Punjab led by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha began a march to Delhi to press their demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

They were stopped by Haryana Police, who had set up barricades, including cemented blocks, on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway.

The farmers clashed with police personnel and have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri points along the Punjab and Haryana border ever since.

On 10 July, the high court ordered the Haryana government to remove the barricades at the Shambhu border within a week, a decision which was later upheld by the Supreme Court.

The top court had also questioned the state's authority to block the highway.