A special cell of the Delhi Police on Tuesday said that it had arrested actor turned activist Deep Sidhu, in connection with the violence in India's capital on Republic Day, January 26. Sidhu was wanted in the Red fort violence case and the police had been attempting to track him down since the day of the incident. Last week, Sidhu had uploaded a video on his verified Facebook account, even as teams of Delhi Police were conducting raids in Punjab to track him down. In the video he is seen talking in Punjabi and claimed that he had not done anything wrong.
In a 15 minute-long video message on January 31, titled 'straight from my soul' on his verified Facebook page, he is seen giving an emotional statement. "Despite leaving my whole life behind, I came to join the Punjabis in their protest. Nobody saw anything but I was labelled a traitor. All I did was raise a voice for your rights. For so many months, I've been meeting everyone on roads, in tents. Now a single man is being made a traitor," he said.
On Sunday, the Delhi Police had arrested a 60-year-old man from Chandigarh in connection with the violence that took place at Red Fort during the farmers' tractor parade on Republic Day. With his arrest, the total number of people nabbed by Delhi Police in connection with the violence that took place across the national capital on January 26 had gone up to 127.
Sukhdev Singh was arrested from Chandigarh by the Crime Branch team, which is probing 13 cases registered in connection with the Republic Day violence. The police had earlier announced a cash reward for Singh and three others for allegedly instigating protesters.
The police had announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for information that can lead to the arrest of actor Deep Sidhu, Jugraj Singh, Gurjot Singh and Gurjant Singh who hoisted flags at the Red Fort or were involved in the act.
A senior police officer told PTI on Sunday that Singh was allegedly leading the mob at the Red Fort on the day of the incident and he was found to have an "active presence" at the spot.
Thousands of farmers protesting the Union government's new farm laws had clashed with the police during the tractor parade on January 26. Many of the protesters, driving tractors, reached the Red Fort and entered the monument. Some protesters hoisted religious flags on its domes and a flagstaff at the ramparts.
With IANS and PTI inputs