Farmer protests: Freelance journalist Mandeep Punia detained by Delhi police

The journalist has been accused by the Delhi police of ‘removing the police barricades’ at Singhu border, where farmers have been protesting.
Freelance Journalist Mandeep Punia who was detained by police
Freelance Journalist Mandeep Punia who was detained by police
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Mandeep Punia, a freelance journalist, who has worked with The Caravan magazine, was on Saturday night detained at the Singhu border for allegedly misbehaving with the police, officials said. Visuals from Saturday night showed police officials dressed in riot gear dragging Punia away. Barricades had been placed at the border following the violence on Friday to ensure that no one could get through, a senior police officer said.

The Indian Express reported that another journalist, Dharmender Singh, was also detained along with Punia but was later released after he showed the police his press ID. The police told PTI that some people, including Punia, were trying to remove the barricades put up to cordon off the site of farmers' protest at the Singhu border. The police have said that the journalist misbehaved with police personnel and was detained for the same. 

A few hours before he was picked up by the police, Punia had gone live on Facebook and had reported on how stones were pelted at the farmers’ protest at Singhu border even as the police looked on. The journalist’s detention has been condemned by many.

On Friday, clashes broke out between farmers and a large group of men claiming to be local residents who hurled stones at each other at the Singhu border, one of the main protest sites against the new farm laws.

Delhi Police SHO (Alipur) was injured in the violence. At least 44 people, including the man who attacked the SHO, have been arrested in connection with the incident.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police have registered an FIR against 'The Caravan' magazine for allegedly spreading false information that a farmer died in police firing at the ITO intersection on January 26 after the proposed tractor rally by the protesting farmers rally turned violent in the national capital on Republic Day. The post-mortem report of the deceased person suggested the cause of death to be head injury after his tractor turned turtle.

"As per the post-mortem report, the cause of death is shock and haemorrhage due to a head injury received after his tractor overturned," said a senior police officer.

The case has been registered at the IP Estate police station. On 26 January, The Caravan had put out a tweet citing an eyewitness, saying the farmer was shot by the police.

Earlier on Thursday, the Noida Police had booked Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, journalists Rajdeep Sardesai, Mrinal Pande, Vinod K. Jose (The Caravan) and others for sedition on Thursday. An FIR lodged at the Sector 20 police station stated that they were booked for tweeting and spreading fake news pertaining to the death of a farmer during the tractor rally in Delhi on January 26.

With agency inputs

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