FIR registered to trace man who went missing from tractor rally, police tell HC

A bench of justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani was informed by the police that three teams have been constituted to trace the missing man, Bajinder, and assistance is also being sought from the Haryana Police.

The city police on Tuesday told the Delhi high court that an FIR has been registered to trace a 27-year-old man who had gone missing while participating in the farmers’ tractor rally on Republic Day.

Farmers participate in a tractor rally to protest against the newly passed farm bills, on a highway on the outskirts of New Delhi. (REUTERS)

A bench of justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani was informed by the police that three teams have been constituted to trace the missing man, Bajinder, and assistance is also being sought from the Haryana Police.

The court was hearing a habeas corpus plea moved by the brother of the missing farmer, alleging that Bajinder was illegally detained. Petitioner Baljeet, represented by advocates Benipal Naginder and Aditi Pundhir, has claimed that Bajinder had participated in the tractor rally on January 26 and was missing since then.

On Tuesday, the bench told the senior superintendent of police, Jhajjar, to render all possible assistance to the Delhi Police to locate the man, advocate Naginder said.

The court also asked the police, represented by Delhi government’s standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra and advocate Chaitanya Gosain, to file a status report before the next date of hearing on February 17.

The police have also told the court that they have not arrested any such person in connection with the violence on January 26.

The tractor parade on January 26, held by farmers to highlight their demands to repeal three new farm laws, had turned violent as police clashed with protesters. A section of farmers had also reached the Red Fort and hoisted a religious flag there.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at various border points of Delhi for over two months now against the three laws.