Protesting farmer leaders allege conspiracy hatched to kill 4 of them, disrupt tractor rally

PTI, Jan 23, 2021, 10:31 AM IST

New Delhi: Protesting farmer leaders on Friday alleged that a conspiracy has been hatched to kill four of them and create disturbance during their proposed tractor rally on January 26.

At a late-night press conference at the Singhu border, the farmer leaders presented a person who claimed that his accomplices were allegedly asked to pose as policemen and baton charge the crowd during the proposed tractor rally.

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

Farmer leader Kulwant Singh Sandhu alleged that attempts are 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 has been hatched to shoot four farmer leaders, who are known faces in the media, at the stage on January 23.

“On January 26, there was a plan to create disturbance during the tractor rally by opening fire on Delhi Police personnel, which would prompt them to retaliate on the protesting farmers in a strong manner,” the man alleged at the press conference.

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

Enacted in September last year, the three laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

However, the protesting farmers have expressed their apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of MSP (minimum support price) and do away with the “mandi” (wholesale market) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.