Farmers Movement Archive

Forces on Rajpath, farmers on warpath

NEW DELHI: At least 20 FIRs have been filed for Tuesday’s mayhem in the capital, which caused injuries to policemen as well as damage to public transport and police vehicles. Farmers on protest clashed with police while deviating from the designated route of their tractor parade on Republic Day. Till late evening, 100-120 policemen, including IPS officers, were reportedly injured and over two dozen vehicles vandalised in various parts of the city. Most cops were just wielding lathis and reportedly did not get the chance to retaliate. At Red Fort, policemen were forced to jump off the railings as protesters went on the rampage and assaulted them. Four cases were registered for the vandalism in east Delhi. Eight buses and 17 private vehicles were damaged in the area. The figures were similar in all other ranges. The exact extent of damage was still being recorded till late on Tuesday. At two places, ITO and Kashmere Gate ISBT, women cops were allegedly cornered and assaulted by the protesters and had to be rescued by fellow policemen. Videos of these incidents were recorded by passersby, which went viral on social media. A probe has been initiated into instances of protesters allegedly snatching the belongings of policemen. Several bystanders were also injured in the clashes and their statements have been recorded by police. At least 45 police personnel were admitted to the trauma centre in north district after the violence at Red Fort. In all, 21 people, including 10 protesters and 11 policemen, were rushed to Lok Nayak Hospital with injuries caused during the protest at ITO. Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director of the hospital, told TOI that a 40-year-old policeman had serious head injury and was currently in the ICU. “One protester has a bone injury. The rest of the patients are stable. We have kept them under observation for some tests. Some of them are likely to be discharged after a few hours,” Dr Kumar added. Police are looking at videos where the national flag was allegedly thrown into a drain. A video of farmer leader Rakesh Tikait, wherein he is asking his supporters to be armed with lathis and be ready to save their land, is being investigated. A probe suggests that a Punjab-based former gangster-turned-activist and his henchmen played a role in attacking police in central Delhi, a source said. The cops have contacted their counterparts in Punjab in the matter.

The Times of India

2021-01-27

Delhi