All 44 held for violence at Singhu are protesting farmers, say police
NEW DELHI: All 44 people arrested for the violence at Singhu border on Friday are farmers who had been protesting at the site, police said.
None of the arrested suspects are from a mob of 200 , who claimed to be locals of the area and who indulged in a clash with protesting farmers on Friday, police officers, who did not wish to be named, claimed.
Despite multiple barricades and at least 1,000 personnel of Delhi Police and paramilitary forces at the Singhu border, a mob of 200 people managed to reach near the main stage of the protest on Friday and attacked the farmers with sticks, besides pelting them with stones, leading to Friday afternoon’s clash.
There were videos on social media — none of which could be verified independently — that showed a group of men pelting stones while police personnel stood next to them and watched. One video showed a masked man throwing stones. Another showed some police personnel in anti-riot gear standing and watching during the pelting.
Despite repeated phone calls and text messages, the special
commissioner of police (west zone) Sanjay Singh or additional DCP (outer), Ghanshayam Bansal did not respond when asked why no locals were arrested for their involvement in violence.
Delhi Police had on Friday night released a statement saying they had arrested 44 persons for Friday’s violence, including a 22-year-old protesting farmer, who had allegedly stabbed a police inspector with a sword on his left palm. Police in their statement did not specify how many of the 44 people were farmers or locals.
But Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, on Saturday, said he met all the 44 farmers lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail, including one Ranjit Singh — who had been arrested for attacking the police inspector.
“All the 44 people arrested for yesterday’s violence at Singhu border are farmers. We will be fighting the case of all farmers who have been arrested during the agitation. We have formed a special panel of lawyers to look into the matter,” Sirsa said.