UP Police book mother, brother for draping farmer’s body in tricolour

Baljinder Singh, the farmer, reportedly died in a road accident while he was on his way to join the farmers’ protest in Ghaziabad. His last rites were performed on Wednesday

The Uttar Pradesh police have booked relatives of a 32-year-old farmer for draping his body in the tricolour before his last rites in the state’s Pilibhit district on Thursday.

Representational image. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

Pilibhit police superintendent Jai Prakash said Baljinder Singh, the farmer, reportedly died in a road accident while he was on his way to join the farmers’ protest in Ghaziabad. His last rites were performed on Wednesday. “His family reportedly draped Baljinder’s body in the tricolour before the cremation. This is an insult to the national flag.” He added only the body of a person given a national honour can be draped in a tricolour like this. “...an FIR [first information report] was lodged against the family members,” said Prakash.

Baljinder’s mother, Jasveer Kaur, and brother Gurvinder Singh have been named in the FIR filed on the complaint of Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, the in-charge of Sehramau police station.

Prakash said the FIR has been registered under the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act, which provides for imprisonment of up to three years. “The matter is being investigated.”