NEW DELHI: The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has arrested two persons, including a prominent farmer leader, from Jammu for their alleged involvement in the violence at the Red Fort during the farmers’ tractor parade on January 26.
Jammu and Kashmir United Kisan Front chairman Mohinder Singh, 45, (above) a resident of Chatha area of Jammu city, and Mandeep Singh, 23, a resident of Gole Gujral, Jammu, were “active participants” and “key conspirators” in the violence at the historic fort, said Anil Mittal, additional PRO of the Delhi Police.
Both were traced and apprehended by a team of STARS-1, Crime Branch, and have been booked under various sections of the IPC Arms Act, attempt to Murder, hatching a criminal conspiracy, creating disharmony among various social, cultural and regional groups, disaffection against the government of India, being members of an unlawful assembly, armed with deadly weapons, rioting, among others.
The Delhi Police said they were arrested with the help of the J&K Police.
According to the police, both the accused are active participants and key conspirators in the Red Fort violence case. Further investigations are being carried out, they added.
Mohinder Singh’s family, however, claimed that he was innocent and demanded his immediate release.
“He (Mohinder Singh) informed me that he was called by the senior superintendent of police (Jammu) and was visiting Gandhi Nagar Police Station before his mobile got switched off. Upon enquiring, I came to know that he was arrested by police and shifted to Delhi,” she told reporters.
On Tuesday, farmers blocked the Jammu-Pathankot highway for several hours in protest against the arrests. They dispersed after senior civil and police officers led by an additional deputy commissioner visited them and sought some time.