Man handed over to Haryana police for alleged conspiracy to kill farmer leaders being quizzed

A man presented before reporters on the night of Janaury 22 by protesting farmer leaders at the Singhu border alleging a conspiracy to kill four of them and create disturbance during their proposed tractor parade in Delhi on January 26, is being quizzed by the Haryana police in Sonipat, officials said on January 23.

A police official from Sonipat said, the man was being quizzed by the Crime Branch of the State police. He said the man was a resident of Sonipat and had no previous criminal record.

“He was not carrying any arms or ammunition. We are questioning him, but nothing has been found that points to any kind of conspiracy, as is being alleged,” the official said, adding that further investigations are underway.

At the Singhu border press conference late on the night of January 22, the farmer leaders presented the 21-year-old man who claimed his accomplices were asked to pose as policemen and baton-charge the crowd during the proposed tractor parade in the national capital on Republic Day.

The farmer leaders claimed that they caught the man from the protest site at the Singhu border. He was subsequently handed over to the Haryana police.

Farmer leader Kulwant Singh Sandhu alleged that attempts were being made to disrupt the ongoing agitation against the three farm laws.

The man, who had his face covered with a scarf, claimed at the press conference that a plan was hatched to shoot four farmer leaders on January 23.

“On January 26, there was a plan to create disturbance during the tractor parade by opening fire on Delhi Police personnel, which would prompt them to retaliate against the protesting farmers in a strong manner,” he said.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several border points of Delhi since November 28, demanding a repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee to the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.