No one will be spared: Top cop
NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Wednesday said “no one will be spared” for the violence during the tractor march organised by farm unions, accused them of “betrayal” by not sticking to the pre-decided routes, and said the force was taking a “serious view” of the hoisting of flags by protesters on the ramparts of Red Fort.
Briefing the media at the Police headquarters, Delhi’s police commissioner SN Shrivastava said at least 25 cases have been registered, and multiple farm leaders would have to join the investigation. Among the leaders he named at the briefing were SS Pannu, Darshan Pal, Buta Singh Burjgil and Rakesh Tikait — for either giving provocative statements or actively veering from the prescribed routes.
Shrivastava said that the police, on January 25, had an inkling that some “aggressive and militant people” taking control of the stage and giving provocative speeches at the protest sites. “…We understood their intent but still maintained restraint. We placed barricades but they started removing barricades right from the morning... The farmer leaders did not behave responsibly and stick to the terms and conditions on which they were given permission to hold the rally.”
At least 394 police personnel and 10 farmers sustained injuries during the clashes. One farmer died in the protests after his tractor overturned after ramming a police barricade at ITO.
The police commissioner said sleuths were looking at videos of the violenceto identify the unruly protesters.
Shrivastava said the police had first urged the farmers not to carry out the rally on Republic Day; they refused. He said that it was then suggested that they restrict the rally to the Kundlimanesar-palwal (KMP) expressway on the periphery of Delhi; they refused this as well. Finally, he said, three routes were decided on the conditions that the farm leaders would be present at the head of the respective groups to ensure order, and that no firearms, swords or deadly weapons would be carried. These conditions, he said, were all violated.
Detailing the role of the farmer leaders, who flouted the conditions of the rally, he said, “The protesters at Singhu started the rally early at around 7.30 am. They were to take a right turn near Mukarba chowk but did not. Their leader Satnam Singh Pannu made provocative speeches after which farmers broke barricades. Another leader, Darshan Pal Singh, also reached there and sat down. His group also refused to go back…in Tikri, farmer leader Buta Singh Burjgil had started early(before noon) and accompanied protesters from Tikri border up to Nangloi T-point but instead of taking a right turn and returning, they removed barricades,” he said.
Shrivastava said that in Ghazipur, Rakesh Tikait along with other farmer-leaders got protesters right up to Akshardham — a route not approved in the meeting — and indulged in violence.
Pannu, Singh, and Burjgil were not available for comment despite several phone calls and text messages. Tikait, a member of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, said, “Farmers shouldn’t be flustered by the multiple FIRS registered by the police. They are not a problem. If there is a movement, there will be FIRS.”
A police officer, requesting anonymity, said on Wednesday night, a notice was sent to Darshan Pal, asking him to give names of those who indulged in violence among the protesters and explain why action shouldn’t be taken against him.
On questions if it was a police intelligence failure, Shrivastava said: “If we did not have intelligence, we would not have identified the 300 Twitter handles, that was fanning tension and mobilising people. Let me say that despite all the provocation, police maintained extreme restraint. We had all options but we choose restraint. We did this else there would have been loss of lives. Not a single bullet was fired by police anywhere.”
In response to a question on the role of Punjab actor, Deep Sidhu, whose has been accused of leading the violent mob at Red Fort, Shrivastava said that police would probe the role of everyone and question them as per the law.