Two police officers of Delhi Police’s Special Branch team were allegedly attacked by protesting farmers at the Singhu border on Thursday. The incident took place when the officers were reportedly taking pictures at the protest site.
According to Delhi Police, the personnel were doing ground analysis at the Narela border after there was an increase in the number of protesters who came from Panipat two days back.
Describing the attack, one of the police officials said, “A woman came to us and questioned what we were doing there. Then others came and surrounded us. They all seemed to be drunk. They attacked us. My colleague sustained a fracture in his hand. Somehow we managed to save ourselves.”
Following the attack, an FIR has been filed at the Narela police station against unknown protesters for assaulting police personnel and obstructing them for doing their duty.
BKU leader Rakesh Tikait defends attack against Delhi Police officials
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait defended the farmers, alleging that they mistook police officials for journalists.
“They (Police) must have been in civil dress and farmers might have mistaken them for channel people (media) who portray their movement in bad light,” Tikait spoke on the incident of assault against Delhi Police officers on June 10.
वो(पुलिसकर्मी) सिविल ड्रेस में होंगे, उनको लगा होगा कि चैनल के लोग हैं और हमें गलत तरह से दिखाते हैं। हमारे लोग मारपीट नहीं करते। पुलिस और सरकार तो चाहती है कि हम किसानों के साथ पंगेबाजी करें: राकेश टिकैत, भारतीय किसान यूनियन के राष्ट्रीय प्रवक्ता https://t.co/U5amarPAxT pic.twitter.com/8R8eF32JQd
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) June 12, 2021
In addition, Tikait blamed the government and police for instigating farmers. “Police and government want to instigate farmers. If they (police) have been visiting the site for days, contact should have been established. They can file FIR, but there should be something to write in it,” he added.
Violence, Khalistani terrorism, rapes and more: Farmers’ protest against three agriculture laws
Since November 2020, the so-called farmers have camped on the borders of the national capital in opposition to the three farm laws—Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
The protests have seen multiple incidents of violence, most notably the Republic Day insurrection when scores of’ farmers’ ran riot on the streets of Delhi and tried to capture the Red Fort and turn it into a protest site.
The protest also saw participation from pro-Khalistani members, who have been toiling to revive Khalistani terrorism and throw the country into chaos. More recently, the protests have also proven to be unsafe for women, with cases of rapes allegedly committed by protesters being reported.