The stir by Maharashtra's sugarcane farmers demanding higher prices for their crop has spread to more areas of the state’s western region. Today, farmers came out in large numbers and fought pitched battles on the roads linking the cities of Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara to Mumbai. According to the state police control room, traffic jams have been reported on these roads. Police personnel called to control the crowds were stoned and many of them were beaten up by the farmers. Police vehicles were also set on fire as farmers demanded that the government pay compensation to the kin of a farmer who was killed in police firing on Monday. The farmers' stir is being spearheaded by the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS), a local party of farmers which has been making inroads in this area for the past many years. Member of Parliament Raju Shetti, head of the SSS who has been arrested by the police, has refused to seek bail thereby adding to the tension here. The agitating farmers are also preventing the movement of milk trucks to Mumbai in order to create a shortage in the metropolis. The Kolhapur-Sangli-Satara belt is known for its sugar and milk co-operatives. The sugarcane farmers are demanding that they be paid Rs 3,000 per tonne of cane as the first advance as against the Rs 2,300 per tonne being offered by the sugar co-operatives. The co-operatives which are controlled by the leaders of the ruling Congress and Nationalist Congress Party have come in for criticism for not paying enough to the farmers for their crop. Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal who has extended his support to the sugarcane farmers said that co-operatives controlled by the Congress and NCP politicians were exploiting farmers. "How many sugar mills in Maharashtra are owned by NCP, BJP, Congress people? Which ministers own sugar mills? That data would explain why the government is not giving better sugarcane prices and favouring sugar mill owners,” Kejriwal tweeted. Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who sought to diffuse the tension by promising to look at cane pricing during the forthcoming Winter Session of the state legislature, was rebuffed by farmers. Raghunath Patil, a farmers' leader affiliated to the SSS, said they wanted immediate increase in price for cane. The state government has further been put on the back foot with social activist Anna Hazare extending his support to the agitating farmers. "This is a Black Diwali for farmers after the government opened fire on protesting farmers," Hazare told a news agency at his village Ralegan Siddhi. Hazare, however, appealed to farmers that they should not resort to violence and protest peacefully. The protests have also assumed caste overtones with Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar alleging that sugar co-operatives controlled by the Maratha community were being targeted in the protests. His hint that co-operatives controlled by members of the Jain community were benefiting from the protests has drawn flak from farmers’ organisations in the state.