India has suspended mobile internet services in three areas around the capital, Delhi, where farmers are staging a hunger strike in protest at new agriculture laws. The government said the shutdown would continue until Sunday night to "maintain public safety".
Tens of thousands of protesting farmers have been camped out on Delhi's outskirts for more than a month. Talks between unions and the government have failed to break the deadlock.
The protest made international headlines when a tractor rally ended in violent clashes that left one protester dead and dozens of police officers injured. Some demonstrators stormed Delhi's historic Red Fort and occupied it until police pushed them back.
The interior ministry said mobile internet services had been suspended at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri - the districts where farmers have gathered. Farmers' leaders said the one-day hunger strike had been timed to coincide with the anniversary of the death of independence leader Mahatma Gandhi. Union leader Darshan Pal said: "The farmers' movement was peaceful and will be peaceful
Reports suggest that protesters reacted angrily to the internet shutdown with farmers accusing officials of trying to "create a panic" and "killing democracy." The government action comes amid rising tensions at the locations where farmers are based.
