Bhopal, June 8: The BJP governments at the Centre and in Madhya Pradesh today admitted that the five farmers killed during Tuesday's protests in Mandsaur fell to police bullets, after initially denying firing by the force and blaming miscreants.

Union home ministry sources said that Madhya Pradesh police had failed to follow basic crowd-control guidelines.

"It was investigated and proved that the deaths of the farmers happened because of police firing. Initially, the details provided to me were that police firing did not cause the deaths. I later amended my statement after receiving the correct information," state home minister Bhupendra Singh said.

For the past two days, Bhupendra and several other Madhya Pradesh BJP leaders had been denying any police firing in Mandsaur and accusing "anti-social elements" of killing the farmers.

Bhupendra had told TV channels that neither the state police nor the CRPF had fired at the farmers, who were demanding loan waivers and higher prices for their produce.

Sources said Bhupendra had been attending a cabinet meeting in Bhopal on Tuesday when he learnt about the firing. He sought chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's permission to leave the meeting and spoke to Mandsaur superintendent of police O.P. Tripathi and district collector Swatantra Kumar Singh.

Both reportedly denied any police firing. They apparently got an assistant commandant of the CRPF to speak to the minister and say the paramilitary force had not fired, either.

Chouhan today transferred both Tripathi and the collector, a move that bureaucrats view as punishment for keeping the chief minister in the dark.

Sources, however, told this newspaper that the two officials had been unaware of the reality.

When violence broke out on Tuesday morning, local police and CRPF personnel split into several small groups. As the agitating farmers went on the rampage, burning vehicles and hurling stones, a probationary IPS officer reportedly ordered the firing after obtaining clearance from his seniors.

The SP and the collector were apparently not briefed.

However, inspector-general of police (law and order) Makrand Deuskar and state director-general of police Rishiraj Shukla had since yesterday been saying the police had indeed opened fire. The sources said this could have prompted the home minister to change tack.

Deuskar said: "After a preliminary investigation, it is now clear that the police did open fire. However, under what circumstances the police resorted to this action is still not clear. The investigation is under way."

When the violence spread to several areas of Mandsaur, local policemen were seen trying to placate the protesters with folded hands. "We did it to save our lives," said an officer posted at Pipliakhedi, Mandsaur.

Union home ministry sources told The Telegraph that according to a preliminary inquiry, the Madhya Pradesh police had flouted the basic guidelines for crowd control and fired indiscriminately on the farmers.

"We have a preliminary report from the state government on the incidents leading to the police firing on the protesting farmers. The report clearly says that police firing caused the deaths of five farmers," a ministry official said.

He said the report, sought by the Centre on Wednesday, did not mention the trigger for the firing.

"A preliminary inquiry by intelligence agencies says the senior police officers at the scene panicked and failed to sound the mandatory warning to the protesters before ordering the firing," the official said.

Repeated warnings, ordering dispersal, must be sounded before using lethal weapons - and even before adopting milder methods such as firing tear gas or water cannons.

"No such warning was given in Mandsaur," another official said.

A senior IPS officer in Madhya Pradesh, however, defended the extreme step, saying the situation had spiralled out of control so fast that there was hardly any time to sound the warning. "We had to act immediately, else the protesters would have killed senior police officers," he said.

The Madhya Pradesh government's report says the police used "tear gas and (resorted to) lathi charge to control the violent mob, but it did not deter them".

"On the first day of the protest (Monday), the agitating farmers had resorted to arson and vandalism of government properties, including those of railways," the Union home ministry official said, quoting from the report.

"On the morning of June 6, the police had resorted to tear gas and a lathi-charge to disperse the mob. The mob had also tried to enter police stations and blocked the highway. Twenty-five trucks and two police vans were torched."

The official said the situation was now under control.

Madhya Pradesh witnessed stray violence today. At Shajapur, agitating farmers blocked the national highway linking Agra to Mumbai.

In the afternoon, a local market was attacked and sub-divisional magistrate Rajesh Yadav and a few police constables and journalists were beaten up.

At Sonkachh, milkmen were attacked and motorbikes set on fire. In Mandsaur, protesters vandalised a toll plaza and allegedly looted Rs 8 lakh.