On Wednesday morning, the Special Cell of Delhi Police announced the arrest of Iqbal Singh for his role in the Republic Day violence at Red Fort. Iqbal Singh was arrested last night from Hoshiarpur, Punjab. A cash reward to the tune of Rs. 50,000 was on offer to anyone with information which led to Iqbal Singh’s arrest.
In at least three different videos, Iqbal Singh appears to be instigating violence against the police. In a video which seems to be recorded by Iqbal Singh himself, he starts off the video by explicitly calling for the removal of the Tiranga and replacing it with the Nishaan Sahib, a Sikh religious symbol. Later in the video, he claims that a ‘peaceful revolution’ has begun. However, immediately contradicting himself, Iqbal Singh calls upon the irate rioters to ‘snatch the stun guns’ of the guards guarding the Red Fort gate.
In the video, Iqbal Singh is clearly attempting to instigate the rioters around him. “If they(Red Fort guards) don’t open the gate peacefully, we will snatch their stun guns and assault them. They better agree with us peacefully or else we also have weapons with us. We will shoot them with their own stun guns.” Iqbal Singh was quoted in the video. Iqbal Singh was also reportedly livestreaming his assault on the Red Fort on social media. He did so in order to galvanize support and incite even more people to illegally storm and breach the Red Fort.
Another Republic Day violence accused, Dharmendra Singh Harman, was arrested by Delhi Police yesterday. The Delhi Police has made a total of 124 arrests so far in the aftermath of the 26th January violence. 44 of those arrests have had FIRs filed against them. 14 of those 44 charge sheeted are under investigation by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police. There are expectations of more arrests and prosecutions moving forward. Just yesterday, a Delhi court sent actor Deep Sidhu to seven day police custody for his role in instigating violence and vandalism at Red Fort on Republic Day during the farmers’ tractor rally.
