CRPF MEN SAY MP FARMERS WERE FIRED AT

BHOPAL: Two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constables have admitted to farmers being fired at during the Mandsaur agitation but added that the shots went off “unintentionally”.

Appearing for the state government, advocate Avinash Sirpurkar, said constables Arun Kumar and Vijay Kumar in their deposition before the commission probing the firing stated that the mob at Bhai Choupati was accidentallyfiredat whenittried to snatch their rifles.

“The mob had two CRPF constables — Vivek Mishra and Uday — on the ground and was trying to pour petrol on them and some of them were trying to snatch the INSAS rifles from the other CRPF men. In the skirmish, the bullets went off killing the farmers,” Sirpurkar said, quoting from the deposition of the two CRPF constables.

On June 6, 2017, five farmers died to bullet wounds during the course of their agitation in Mandsaur and a one-man commission headed by Justice (retd) JK Jain is probing the matter.

The firing had taken place at two places on that day — Bhai Choupati where two farmers were killed and Piplya Mandi police station where three farmers died.

City superintendent of police (SP) Sai Kumar Thota, who had led the combined force of the CRPF and police, in his deposition did not mention anything about any shooting taking place in Bhai Choupati.

The district police has already washed its hands off the farmer deaths .