Farmers Movement Archive

Republic Day mob aimed to make Red Fort new agri protest site: Delhi Police

NEW DELHI: The mob at Red Fort on January 26 intended to not only capture the historic monument and hoist the Nishan Sahib and the ‘kisan’ flag on top but also aimed to make it the new protest site for the agitation against the new farm laws, Delhi Police has said in its chargesheet filed in connection with the violence witnessed there. While elaborating on the alleged conspiracy behind the violence, the chargesheet has cited the figures for purchase of tractors in Haryana and Punjab in December 2020 as compared to the same period in 2019. Interestingly, the figure is claimed to be 95% more than the previous year in Punjab when the protests were at their peak in December 2020. In the 3,232-page chargesheet, which has been vetted by the prosecution and police commissioner S N Shrivastava, Delhi Police has explained in detail how a “deep-rooted and premeditated conspiracy” was hatched and executed. TOI was the first to report on May 22 that the crime branch chargesheet said the violence was premeditated. “The episode is a larger conspiracy hatched in the garb of (protests against the) newly-enacted farmers’ act. It was the intention and one of the main/key objective of the unruly mob to enter Delhi, make Red Fort a new site for their morcha/dharna and then to take the protest further,” the police have said on the violence in which over 500 police personnel were injured. “The arrested accused persons, along with their absconding associates, leaders and instigators, had deliberately chosen the very auspicious occasion of the country, viz. Republic Day 2021, to hoist Nishan Sahib and kisan flag, in order to cause embarrassment and humiliation at the national and international levels to the people of this country,” the police have said. The police have claimed that their investigations have revealed that the purchase of tractors spiralled rapidly in a well-orchestrated conspiracy and with the sole objective and intent to take the tractors to Delhi for the protest. The cops had written to Tractor and Mechanization Association for providing the state-wise and month-wise data for sale of tractors. In Punjab, there was an increase of 43.53% in tractor sales in November 2020 compared to the same month in 2019. Similarly, in January 2021 (when the violence happened), the sales increased by 85.13% compared to January 2020. In Haryana, there was an increase of 31.81% and 50.32% in the months of November and December 2020, respectively, compared to the same months in 2019 when there were no protests. In January 2021, tractor sales increased by 48% in Haryana compared to January 2020. The chargesheet also alleges that money was a driving factor in the execution of this conspiracy. An accused named Iqbal Singh had disclosed during interrogation that he had been promised a cash reward by Sikhs for Justice group if he succeeded in getting Nishan Sahib hoisted on the ramparts of Red Fort. The police have cited an audio of a conversation wherein the daughter of Iqbal Singh is allegedly conversing with one of his relatives and mentioning that they will be getting an amount of Rs 50 lakhs. Iqbal Singh, the cops have claimed, visited Tarn Taran, Punjab, on January 19 for a meeting. “A majority of the accused persons who hoisted Nishan Sahib at…Red Fort also hail from Tarn Taran and all of them are identified but still at large,” said the cops. Accused Deep Sidhu, the police said, acted like an influencer and instigator who actively provoked the crowd to indulge in violence on that day and even before that. In several videos, according to the police, Sidhu is seen to be claiming that he knew very well that the Sangat will not take the government approved route for its tractor rally but will instead go to Red Fort. There are other videos available on record in which different leaders of the farmers’ unions are claiming that the tractor rally will not follow the route that had been agreed upon, and if they were stopped by the police, they will breach the barricades and enter Delhi at any cost, the police have said. The chargesheet also claims that there are videos available on record which show the farmers’ leaders instigating their supporters to modify their tractors and get heavy metal accessories installed so that the barricades put up by the police can be breached. “All these videos were recorded prior to January 6,” say the cops. “The arrested accused persons and other members of the mob with a common intent took to active rioting, ransacking public property, attacking and robbing public servants and damaging the monument, causing huge financial losses to the government,” the police added. They said a probe is being conducted into how one protester, Akashpreet, sustained a minor gunshot wound in the foot. He was arrested after being given first aid. Another man, his family says, has gone missing since that day and a probe is being conducted.

The Times of India

2021-05-27

Delhi