DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Arhtiyas in Punjab will keep their shops shut for four days from Tuesday in protest against income tax raids allegedly conducted to intimidate them for supporting the farmers' stir against the Centre's agriculture laws, according to a body representing them. The Federation of Arhtiyas said income tax raids have been conducted on the premises of six commission agents in the past a few days. "We have decided to shut our shops for four days to protest the action of the Income Tax Department against arhtiyas," said Vijay Kalra, president of the federation. Kalra is among the six commission agents whose premises was raided by the Income Tax Department. Earlier, 14 commission agents in Punjab had received notices from the department. Kalra said the department took action to "browbeat" them for supporting agitating farmers against the Centre's three farm laws. On Saturday, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh too had accused the Centre of indulging in "intimidatory tactics" against commission agents by conducting income tax raids on their premises. The CM had termed the I-T raids as "motivated" and a "pressure tactic" to curb their democratic right and freedom. Meanwhile, a Bharatiya Kisan Union faction on Monday demanded a new law for punishing those who buy farmers' crops at rates below the minimum support price. The BKU (Lok Shakti) raised the new demand over and above the farmers' existing demand to repeal the three recent farm laws of the Centre. The BKU (Lok Shakti) activists are presently camping at the Dalit Prerna Sthal near here, while those of the BKU (Bhanu) are on an indefinite sit-in at the Delhi-Noida's Chilla border since the first week of December in support of the demand to repeal the three farm laws. The protestors include farmers from various districts of western Uttar Pradesh like Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Firozabad, and want to move to Delhi to join the larger congregations of protesting farmers from Punjab and Haryana at various border points of Delhi. With the two groups of BKU factions holding protests at the Noida-Delhi Link Road, the traffic movement on this key road has remained obstructed. According to police officials, "The Noida to Delhi carriageway is closed but the Delhi to Noida carriageway was open for commuters. Other routes like DND and Kalindi Kunj between Delhi and Noida are open." There was no law and order situation at the Delhi-Noida border due to the demonstrations, a senior police officer said, adding a large number of personnel remains deployed at Chilla border. "Today, more of our supporters, including office-bearers, have joined us from Bijnor at the Dalit Prerna Sthal on the call of BKU (Lok Shakti) chief Master Sheoraj Singh," the union's spokesperson Shailesh Kumar Giri said. "We will not end our protest until the three new farm laws are repealed and the MSP is made legally-binding. Besides this, there should be a new law to ensure legal action against those who buy crops at rates below the MSP," Giri said, addressing the scores of protestors. He said his faction's protest will continue in a peaceful and Gandhian way until the demands are met by the Centre. (editor@dailyworld.in)