Farmers' tractor rally violence: 22 FIRs filed; 86 policemen injured

A total of 22 FIRs have been filed by the Delhi Police so far in connection with the violence witnessed during a farmers tractor rally on the Republic Day officials said on WednesdayThe FIRs were registered under sections dealing with riots damage to public property and assault on public servants with deadly weaponsPolice have begun analysing video footage available to identify the violent protesters who damaged public property and attacked Delhi Police personnelIn all 86 policemen were injured in the violence as farmers marched inside Delhi with their tractors ahead of the scheduled time agreed upon with police authorities of Delhi Haryana and Uttar PradeshFarmers had rallied with about 60007000 tractors at Singhu border around 830 am on January 26 As per the earlierdecided plan they were supposed to reach Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar and then take a right turn However the protesters led by Nihangs riding horses and armed with swords and other sharpedged weapons charged at the police and broke through several layers of barricades set up between Mukarba Chowk and Transport Nagar the Delhi Police saidAt ITO a large group of farmers who had come from Gazipur and Singhu borders attempted to move towards New Delhi district When they were stopped by the policemen a section of farmers became violent and broke through the barricades damaged iron grills and road dividers and even tried to run over policemen deployed at barricades with their tractors a senior police officer saidThe farmers swarmed the Red Fort and waved farmer union flags from its ramparts They even hoisted farmer union flags as well as a pennant with a Sikh religious symbol from a flagpoleThe catandmouse games between the police and protesting farmers continued until late Tuesday evening Most of the incidents were reported from Mukarba Chowk Gazipur APoint ITO Seemapuri Nangloi TPoint Tikri Border and Red FortNearly 300 artistes including children who were part of the official Republic Day parade in Delhi on Tuesday were rescued by police after they were stranded near the Red Fort due to violence and chaos in the areaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever