India / Tractor set on fire near India Gate to protest farm bills; video surfaces

New Delhi: A tractor was set on fire near India Gate in the heart of Delhi this morning during protests against the controversial farm laws, which have triggered widespread protests. The police have removed the tractor and the fire has been put out by the fire department.

Eish Singhal, DCP (New Delhi), said that around 15 to 20 persons gathered at Rajpath near India Gate at around 7.15 a.m. and tried to set a tractor on fire. The fire has been doused and the tractor removed. Legal action is being taken in the matter and five persons have been detained in connection with the incident.

According to police, eyewitnesses said that that the protesters brought the tractor on a truck, and after reaching Rajpath, they pushed it on to the road and set it on fire. The protesters were holding pictures of Bhagat Singh and raised slogans against the farm Bills that were recently passed by Parliament.

#WATCH: Punjab Youth Congress workers stage a protest against the farm laws near India Gate in Delhi. A tractor was also set ablaze. pic.twitter.com/iA5z6WLGXR

— ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2020

President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday gave assent to the three bills passed in parliament last Sunday, that have triggered farmers' protest especially in Punjab and Haryana.

The Punjab Youth Congress live-streamed this morning's protest at India Gate on its official Facebook page. Punjab Youth Congress workers had allegedly tried to set a tractor on fire in Haryana's Ambala on September 20.

"Congress workers brought a tractor on a truck and set it on fire near India Gate. This is the drama of the Congress. This is why people voted the Congress out of power," Union Minister Prakash Javadekar tweeted in Hindi.

Protests by farmers against the three farm laws continued on Sunday, with farmers in Punjab sitting on the Amritsar-Delhi railway track. Farmers, under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, have been staging a sit-in on the rail track in Punjab since last Wednesday.

In Karnataka, farmers groups have called for a state-wide bandh or a shutdown today against the three farm-related bills clears in parliament and two passed by the state assembly on Saturday. The bandh has been supported by the Congress, which is in opposition in Karnataka.