Two farmer leaders’ arrest triggers protests in Jammu
Delhi Police claim the two accused were active participants and key conspirators in the riot at Red Fort on January 26
JAMMU/DELHI: Angry protesters on Tuesday blocked a busy road in Jammu and shouted slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre in protest against farmer leaders Mohinder Singh and Mandeep Singh’s arrest.
The Delhi Police arrested the two late on Monday for their alleged involvement in the January 26 violence at Delhi’s Red Fort during the tractor rally organised as part of protests against the three farm laws passed in September.
Mohinder Singh, 45, heads the Jammu & Kashmir United Kisan Front.
“Angry over their arrests, people blocked Digiana Ashram Road for over an hour and created a law-and-order situation. We pacified them and involved community elders to defuse the situation. Thereafter, they lifted the blockade and dispersed peacefully,” said a police officer, who did not want to be named.
“He (Mohinder) informed me that he was called by the senior superintendent of police (Jammu) and was visiting Gandhi Nagar Police Station before his mobile got switched off. Upon enquiring, I came to know that he was arrested by police and shifted to Delhi,” the farmer leader’s wife told reporters.
Angry protesters rushed to the police station when the news about the arrest broke. The family insisted Mohinder Singh has never visited Red Fort.
“As per the information received, both the accused are active participants and key conspirators in the riot at Red Fort,” Delhi Police additional public relations officer (PRO) Anil Mittal said.
Thousands of protesters had clashed with the police during the tractor parade called by farmer unions on January 26 demanding repeal of the Centre’s contentious farm laws. Many of the protesters reached the Red Fort driving tractors and entered the monument, and some of them even hoisted religious flags on its domes and a flagstaff at the ramparts.