India / SHO attacked with sword amid clash at Singhu; seriously injured: Delhi Police

Alipur Station House Officer (SHO) Pradeep Paliwal sustained "grievous injuries" on his hand after he was attacked with a sword during clashes between protesting farmers and locals at Singhu border on Friday, police said. Delhi Police shared a picture of Paliwal being attacked by a protester. "Peace has been restored. Legal action is being initiated," said the police.

Vikrant Shekhawat : Jan 29, 2021, 06:30 PM

New Delhi: Delhi Police SHO (Alipur) Pradeep Paliwal was injured in the violence between farmers and ‘locals’ on Friday at Singhu border after a man attacked him with a sword, reported news agencies. An official said that some people were also wounded.

The official said that police detained the man who attacked the station house officer.

Police fired tear gas and resorted to lathicharge on Friday to break up a clash between farmers and a large group of men claiming to be local residents who hurled stones at each other at the Singhu border (Delhi-Haryana border), one of the main protest sites against farm laws.

#WATCH | Delhi: Group of people claiming to be locals gather at Singhu border (Delhi-Haryana border) demanding that the area be vacated. pic.twitter.com/AHGBc2AuXO
— ANI (@ANI) January 29, 2021

The group claiming to be locals demanded that the farmers vacate the Singhu border, one of the main protest sites around the capital, alleging that they had “insulted” the national flag during their tractor parade on Republic Day.

Armed with sticks, the group of locals reached the site and asked the farmers to leave while raising slogans against them. Both sides also pelted stones at each other. The protesters at the Singhu border, much of which is barred for entry from outside, came out in numbers to resist the locals.

However, they were promptly stopped by farmer union volunteers which helped the situation from turning ugly.

“They are not locals, but hired goons. They were throwing stones, petrol bombs at us. They attempted to burn down our trolleys also. We are here to resist them. We won’t leave the place,” said Harkirat Mann Beniwal, 21, from Punjab’s Khana district.

Thousands of protesting farmers had clashed with the police during the tractor rally called by farmer unions on January 26 to highlight their demand for repeal of the Centre’s three farm laws.

Many of the protesters, driving tractors, reached the Red Fort and entered the monument. Some protesters even hoisted religious flags on its domes and the flagstaff at the ramparts, where the national flag is unfurled by the prime minister on Independence Day.