OVer 40 people, including policemen, sustained injuries as villagers agitating against land acquisition clashed with the police and set fire to state-run buses in Haryana’s Rewari district on Sunday. Three Haryana Roadways buses, one Rajasthan Roadways bus, two fire tenders and a truck were torched after farmers reacted to a police lathicharge during a mahapanchayat convened to oppose the government’s plan to acquire 3,000 acres for an industrial estate in Asalwas village near Bawal town. The farmers also held hostage nine policemen, including four constables, three head constables and an assistant sub-inspector. They, however, were released later in the evening. The clash started when the mahapanchayat called by Kisan Sangharsh Samiti — which is leading the agitation — decided to block the Delhi-Jaipur Highway (National Highway-8) in the afternoon, forcing the police to intervene. The clash carried on for over three hours, in which, policemen and protesting farmers pelted stones at each other. To disrupt the mob, the police lathicharged the agitators, fired tear-gas shells, used water canons and even fired gunshots in the air. The police, however, blamed the violence on a group of unruly youth. “The police were deployed at a distance and nobody was disrupting the mahapanchayat proceedings. All of a sudden, however, a group of youth in the audience started pelting stones at us, prompting a mild lathicharge,” said Rewari SP Abhishek Garg. Besides farmers and policemen, some journalists and lensmen also faced the brunt of the violence. A vernacular daily’s reporter’s motorcycle was torched by the agitated mob, while cameras of few lensmen were smashed. Reports also stated that the protestors had torched a police post and set on fire furniture and eight motorcycles parked there. The district administration, meanwhile, has appealed to the protesters to maintain law and order in the area. The Rewari DC said that over 40 police personnel have been injured in the clash. The NH-8 continues to be blocked, as the protestors have dug up a portion of the highway with the help of JCBs.