Farmers Movement Archive

Murder charge on farmers: BKU’s Haryana chief announces mass gathering to press for FIR withdrawal

Three days after an FIR amounting to murder was lodged against seven men, including Bhartiya Kisan Union’s (BKU) Ambala chief, after a 72-year-old farmer died during BJP’s tractor rally in Naraingarh, BKU state president Gurnam Singh Chaduni on Saturday warned the government to quash the FIR or face flak.Chaduni, after a state-level meeting at Kamboj Dharamshala in Kurukshetra, announced that the farmers will gather at Mohra grain market here in huge numbers for a ‘mahapanchayat’ on October 29.“If the government fails to cancel the FIRs on our farmers, strategy for a long fight will be announced at the mass gathering,” he said.Chaduni along with senior union leaders had met Ambala Range IG Y Puran Kumar and SP Rajesh Kalia on Thursday, but failed to get any assurance. Earlier that day, farmers and political leaders had gathered in huge numbers at the SP’s office with the same demand.Meanwhile, no arrest was made in the case till Saturday evening. Sources said that since the final medical report is pending as some samples were sent for testing on Wednesday evening to get more clarity on the cause of death, no one has been arrested yet.However, SP Kalia has confirmed about a “blunt injury mark” on the farmer’s body, but refused to give more details till the final report comes in.A condolence meeting was held also for the deceased farmer in Naraingarh. It was attended by Kurukshetra MP Naib Saini and other leaders on Saturday.Highway blockade: Six accused get bail Six men, who had been arrested for blocking the national highway during BJP’s tractor rally in Naraingarh, were granted bail by a court on Saturday.The accused — Gurdev, Manjit, Dhanraj Singh, Deepender, Dharamvir Singh alias Sonu and Prince — were on one-day remand and were presented in a court through video conferencing and the police asked for judicial remand. However, during the remand, the police failed to recover the sticks that were allegedly used at the protest site.Congress leaders from Ambala who had offered to appear for the accused in the court free of cost, advocated for their case on Saturday. Appearing at the hearing, Haryana Congress treasurer and Ambala Bar association president Rohit Jain and his fellow advocates argued that the arrested men were not criminals, but just farmers.“Also, section 8 (B) of the National Highways Act doesn’t match with the facts mentioned in the FIR. The section calls for any damage to the highway, but there was no such allegation. The accused were granted bail after 10 minutes over surety bonds worth ₹60,000 each,” Jain held.Station in-charge Gurmail Singh said, “The sticks that were used by them are yet to be recovered from Shahabad, Raipur Rani, Dera Bassi and Shahazadpur. We are investigating the case and our teams are out in various districts to arrest the remaining accused.”

Hindustan Times

17-10-2020

City