Three FIRs against farm protesters who had claimed car from BJP MP’s convoy hit farmer

Angry farmers on Sunday gathered in Naraingarh to lay siege to the local police station where the FIRs were lodged on Saturday, two days after the alleged incident. However, they postponed their plan after senior police officers assured them that a fair probe will be conducted in the matter.

HARYANA POLICE have registered three FIRs against farm protesters who had alleged that one of them was hit by an Innova car that was part of Kurukshetra MP Nayab Singh Saini’s cavalcade during an agitation in Ambala district on October 7. No FIR has been lodged yet on the complaint filed by the injured farmer, who has also been named in the three FIRs.

Protesters had claimed that a farmer, Bawan Preet, sustained injuries after he was hit by the vehicle when the MP, alongwith state Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma had gone to Naraingarh to attend a function. The BJP MP had denied the allegations and claimed that the protesters had attacked his vehicle.

Angry farmers on Sunday gathered in Naraingarh to lay siege to the local police station where the FIRs were lodged on Saturday, two days after the alleged incident. However, they postponed their plan after senior police officers assured them that a fair probe will be conducted in the matter.

One of the FIRs lodged against the farmers was on the complaint of one Rajiv Kumar “for wrongly blaming him for hitting the farmer”. The second FIR has been lodged on the complaint of Saini’s driver, who accused the protesters of assaulting him. The third FIR has been lodged on the complaint of Naraingarh police station SHO Dhoom Singh, who claimed that the protesters were “rushing towards the vehicle of Saini with an intention to attack him”. The protesters were also accused of moving towards the venue of Saini’s function by removing the police barricades. 

Ambala BKU president Malkit Singh, one of those named in the FIR, told The Indian Express: “In a single day (Saturday), three FIRs were lodged against the farmers on the basis of false charges. The farmers had gathered in the grain market of Naraingarh before moving to the police station. However, senior police officers have assured that the false cases will be withdrawn,” said Malkit Singh.  

On the other hand, Naraingarh DSP Anil Kumar said: “The protesting farmers claimed that the allegations levelled against them in the FIRs are false. An SIT has been formed under the chairmanship of a DSP that will resolve these cases.”

As part of their agitation against the Centre’s three farm laws, farmers had announced a “social boycott” of BJP-JJP leaders in Haryana. However, BJP-JJP leaders have been blaming opposition parties for the protests against them.

For the Naraingarh incident of October 7, the BKU had alleged connivance of the BJP MP, claiming that it was “a conspiracy to kill the farmers”. The union had sought registration of an FIR under charge of attempt to murder against Saini and the Innova driver. The police are yet to lodge an FIR.

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