Fergana police threaten farmer with gun over grain quota

Social media posts alleged that the police pointed a gun at a citizen inside his house and used force. A Kun.uz reporter contacted Rishtan district governor Bahodir Kholiqov and farmer Gayratjon Khayrullaev for comment.

According to Khayrullaev, local police officers did in fact come to his home, accused him of not meeting the state grain plan, pointed a gun at him and shoved his mother:

“On July 7, I was in the fields of Buloqboshi village in Rishtan district, applying fertilizer to the cotton. Police officers arrived around 19:30 in the evening. I told them to go wait at my house, that I would come after washing up. Three officers followed me home.

They said they would wait for me. I went inside to change clothes. Normally, local officers Golib Tulanov and Nodir Abdurahimov only came if there was a meeting. I thought this was the case again.

Suddenly, the officers came in after me, pointed a gun at me, twisted my arm and shouted, ‘I’ll shoot you, I’ll kill you, move this way.’ The one who pointed the gun was neighborhood officer Golib Tulanov.

My 70-year-old mother, seeing this, tried to intervene, saying, ‘What is happening, don’t do this.’ But the officer pushed her to the ground. She fainted immediately. After that, the officers yelled at me, saying, ‘Complain wherever you want,’ and left my house. My poor mother spent a week in the hospital before she recovered.

I had already delivered 17 tons of grain to the exchange. I didn’t keep a single kilo of grain at home. I had fulfilled the state grain quota. I don’t understand what their real purpose was,” the farmer said.

He added that another farm head in the district, Azizbek Tojiboyev, was jailed for five days for failing to hand over a cotton spraying machine to the district authorities.

For his part, Rishtan district governor Bahodir Kholiqov said he had not seen the video circulating online and denied that officers pointed a gun at the farmer:

“This matter is such that everyone has their rights, but also their obligations. The farmer has obligations to the state regarding grain and cotton, and must fulfill them. Then there is the issue of fertilizer – it must be applied properly because that benefits the farmer himself, raising crop yields. The police officers went to explain this, to say, ‘Hey friend, tomorrow you’ll do defoliation, it will be of good quality, your harvest will increase.’

“Perhaps the grain was at the farmer’s house or somewhere else... The officers only went there to ensure the state plan was being fulfilled. There was nothing else.

“I was not present at the scene. There was no use of a gun or a stun gun. I haven’t seen the video circulating online yet. Once I watch it, I will let you know,” governor Kholiqov said.

For reference, Bahodir Kholiqov has been serving as governor of Rishtan district since August 2023.