A large number of farmers stayed put outside the gates of the district headquarters here on Wednesday as they remained firm on their demand for action against IAS officer Ayush Sinha, who ordered a police lathi-charge on a group of peasants last month. Locked in a showdown with the Haryana government over the lathi-charge, the farmers squatted at the gates of the mini-secretariat on Tuesday evening after talks with the local administration failed. Many spent the night outside the mini-secretariat.

The protesters are demanding action over the police lathi-charge here on August 28. Their main demand centres around Sinha, former Karnal SDM. He was later transferred out as part of a larger bureaucratic shuffle. The officer, whose suspension farmers'' union leaders are demanding, was caught on tape allegedly telling policemen to "break heads" if the protesters crossed the line.