VIOLENCE PROBE: FORENSIC TEAMS COLLECT SAMPLES FROM GHAZIPUR PROTEST SITE

Forensic teams visited the Delhi-uttar Pradesh border at Ghazipur on Friday afternoon to collect forensic samples, as part of their probe into the violence during the farmers’ tractor rally on January 26. The police also released a notice appealing to citizens, including media personnel, to submit videos and any other information related to the Republic Day violence.

Senior police officers, who asked not to be named, said the law enforcement agency’s special cell (anti-terror unit), which is probing the alleged conspiracy behind Tuesday’s violence, has issued notices to several farmer leaders and other protesters, including Punjab actor Deep Sidhu and gangster-turned activist Lakha Sidhana.

A second police officer, who asked not to be named, said they also visited the protest sites at Delhi’s borders on Friday, but found neither Sidhu nor Sidhana.

Apart from the incidents of violence and rioting, the two are being probed on charges of sedition under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for allegedly conspiring to trigger violence in the national capital on Republic Day and “create an international embarrassment for the government on Republic Day,” as per the Delhi Police FIR.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested a 22-year-old farmer for robbing a police officer of a wireless set during the tractor rally at Nangloi on Tuesday.

“The suspect, Ajay Rathee, robbed the wireless set from a constable deployed in a Vajra van (a special police vehicle) at Nangloi Chowk. We recovered the device and arrested him based on intelligence inputs,” said A Koan, deputy commissioner of police, in a press release.

The officer said Rathee, a resident of Rohtak in Haryana, was found to be involved in three previous criminal cases registered in Delhi — one under the Arms Act and two under the Excise Act.