Plea before HC seeks ‘independent probe’ into death of man during tractor rally

The Delhi high court on Thursday will hear a plea seeking an independent court-monitored probe into the death of Navreet Singh, a 25-year-old farmer, who had died allegedly due to the overturning of a tractor during the farmers’ rally on January 26

The Delhi high court on Thursday will hear a plea seeking an independent court-monitored probe into the death of Navreet Singh, a 25-year-old farmer, who had died allegedly due to the overturning of a tractor during the farmers’ rally on January 26.

Farmers on tractors remove concrete barricades installed to prevent them from entering the city during the tractor rally in New Delhi on January 26. (Sajjad Hussain / AFP)

The petition filed by Hardeep Singh, grandfather of the deceased, said the Delhi Police had falsely declared Navreet’s death as “accidental”, without fairly investigating the cause of death.

The plea filed through advocates Vrinda Grover and Soutik Banerjee also said that various medical/forensic experts, who reviewed the description of injuries in the post-mortem report, have independently made statements opining that the injuries are consistent with ante-mortem firearm /gunshot wounds, and that the said injuries could not have resulted from the overturning of a tractor.

The petition said the grandfather had sufficient reason to mistrust the police and not accept the “hasty and unverified conclusion in the death of his grandson” as no investigation was conducted in the case.

It also said the police’s version was unreliable as they have already registered an FIR against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and some journalists for tweeting that Navreet had died of a gunshot wound. The petition said tha when the incident had happened, the police had shown complete apathy; they did not provide Navreet any help or medical aid and instead kept firing tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.

The plea sought that the matter be investigated by police officers who are “independent, professional and impartial”.

Navreet was the only protester to die during the farmers’ tractor rally on Republic Day after the police clashed with thousands of protesting farmers who had reached ITO from the Ghazipur border. Many of the protesters also reached the Red Fort and hoisted a religious flag there. Several protesters and police personnel were injured in the violence that day.