Jaipur, Dec 11 (LatestNewsX) – The sit‑ins aimed at stopping the Dune Ethanol Private Limited factory in Hanumangarh district got livelier Thursday when police arrested Congress MLA Rupinder Singh Kunnar and several of his supporters who were on the way to a farmers’ gathering.
Even with a strong police presence, the farmers convened later at the Gurdwara Singh Sabha complex in Tibbi, where a crowd of mostly women joined. They declared that their protest would continue until their demands were met. Authorities have filed charges against more than 107 local farmers and villagers, and 40 people were taken into custody for violence that erupted on Wednesday.
The unrest had picked up a day earlier after demonstrators in Rathikheda village reportedly tore down a boundary wall under construction for the ethanol plant and torched its office building. This sparked a barrage of stones between police and protesters, injuring between ten and twelve officers and several farmers, one of whom was Sangaria MLA Abhimanyu Poonia. Many of the injured farmers sought shelter in a nearby Gurdwara that night.
With tensions still high, internet services were cut off in the Tibbi area on Thursday. Roughly thirty families living close to the plant have reportedly fled for their safety.
The Chandigarh‑based Dune Ethanol Private Limited intends to build a 40‑megawatt, grain‑derived ethanol plant in Rathikheda, aiming to support the central government’s ethanol‑blended petrol initiative.
While the protests remained largely peaceful from September 2024 to June 2025, protests flared in July 2025 when the company started erecting a boundary wall. The workers resumed construction on November 19 under police guard, leading to several arrests.
During the 20‑21 November period, about 67 farmers were arrested. The situation worsened on December 10 when hundreds of farmers marched, driving tractors to the factory site after a protest outside the Tibbi SDM office. This escalated into a clash that broke the wall and sparked violent confrontations.
The plant is projected to create 700‑800 direct jobs and more than 1,000 indirect employment opportunities.
According to ADG VK Singh, “outsiders” incited the violence. He added that the police exercised maximum restraint and refrained from firing.
The administration reports that 14 vehicles were set on fire, while police confirmed that more than 36 officers sustained injuries, five of which were critical.
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