Police issues notices to 44 farmer leaders
■ Farmers asked to submit reply within 3 days ■ Group, claiming to be locals, demands area be vacated
The Delhi police has issued notices to at least 44 farmer leaders, including Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav and Balbir Singh Rajewal, for breaching the agreement regarding the tractor rally on Republic Day.
The protesting leaders were asked to reply within three days why legal action shouldn’t be taken against them and other members of their organisations for the violence. The police has also registered 33 FIRs including a sedition case in connection with the violence.
The police asked the farmer leaders to submit their responses within three days, an official said, adding that the notices have been issued to these farmer leaders as they did not follow the conditions set for the tractor parade on Tuesday.
The action comes after Delhi police commissioner S.N. Shrivastava, on Wednesday, alleged that farmer leaders were involved in the January 26 violence and warned that no culprit would be spared.
“We have issued notices to around 20 farmer leaders, including Yogendra Yadav. They all have been asked to send their replies within three days,” the official said.
On Wednesday, the police had issued a notice to another farmer leader, Darshan Pal, noting that the vandalisation at the Red Fort on Republic Day was “the most deplorable and anti-national act.”
The Delhi police will also issue a lookout circular against farmer leaders who have been named in the FIRs registered after the violence on Republic Day.
The officials said that farmer leaders named in the FIRs will also be asked to surrender their passports.
The decisions have been taken following a series of meetings chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah since Tuesday when the large scale violence took place in the national capital during the farmers’ tractor rally, a home ministry official said.