Farmers Movement Archive

Three more arrested in R-Day violence case

The police have arrested three Delhi residents for their alleged role in violence at north Delhi’s Burari during the Republic Day’s tractor rally, officers said on Thursday.The special investigation team set up to probe incidents during the clashes between the police and security personnel arrested Guru Prakash, 34, a resident of Old Mahavir Nagar and Gurjeet Singh, 34, and Rajendra Singh 41, of Bhalswa Dairy on Wednesday evening.Police have already arrested eight men linked with violence in Burari .Burari was one of the areas where protesting farmers and police clashed with each other on Republic Day. Over 500 security personnel were injured in the clash and several public properties were damagedAt least 394 police personnel and 10 farmers were injured when farmers protesting against the three farm laws deviated from the route approved for the tractor rally, clashed with police personnel and stormed the Red Fort on January 26.In their ongoing investigation into the violence reported from different locations in Delhi on Republic Day, the police have identified at least 100 persons, using video analytics and face recognition software. The police are matching the photographs with records of the crime dossiers, transport department data and social media accounts. So far, 143 persons have been arrested in 40 cases registered at different police stations.Police have also appealed to the public to share CCTV footage and pictures of the violence. So far, the police have received 2,700 video clips from the people.Special commissioner of police Praveer Ranjan said Delhi police are conducting a scientific probe. “Help from forensic experts is being taken for identification of the suspects for a fair and balanced investigation,” he said.Several teams of the Delhi police are camping in Punjab in search for Jugraj Singh, the Tarn Taran resident who allegedly hoisted the two flags, a religious one and that of the farmers union, at Red Fort, officers aware of the matter said.Police said Jugraj is the “most important link” in the conspiracy to storm Red Fort on Republic Day. Delhi police have maintained that the violence on January 26 and vandalism at Red Fort was a pre-planned conspiracy.Delhi police officers said they have visited the ancestral village of Jugraj Singh in Tarn Taran and several other places in Punjab such as Ludhiana and Amritsar. The police have announced a reward of ₹10,000 on any information leading to the arrest of the 23-year-old.Jugraj’s family members have told police that they have not seen him since he left for Delhi on January 23. Police said Jugraj went to Delhi with at least 10 others.Deep Sidhu’s phone gave away his locationReports on social media suggested that the police were able to trace and arrest Punjabi actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu on Monday after he switched on his phone to recharge his subscription for a Netflix account. No senior officer, who is authorised to issue press statements, commented on the reports.Delhi police officers said they are questioning Sidhu along with other two persons arrested for the violence at Red Fort.According to reports, Sidhu switched off his phone on January 27 within hours of police confirming in a press conference that the actor was under probe for the violence at Red Fort. While in hiding, Sidhu released at least five videos from his verified Facebook account claiming innocence and hitting out farm leaders who branded him a traitor.Deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Sanjeev Yadav said on Tuesday that a woman in the US was uploading the videos for Sidhu and the actor himself did not use Facebook to ensure that his location was not revealed to the police.

Hindustan Times

12-02-2021

Delhi