E-Paper
Army man found involved in Agnipath protests sent to jail
Lance Naik of the 25 Rajput Regiment, posted in Punjab, was arrested on Tuesday and brought to Agra for running a social media group that allegedly stirred the violent protest in Agra on June 17 against Agnipath.
An army man posted in Punjab as Lance Naik with the 25 Rajput Regiment was arrested and brought to Agra on Tuesday for running a social media group which allegedly fuelled the violent protest on June 17 in the Malpura area of Agra against Agnipath, the new recruitment scheme for Indian armed forces. The accused was sent to jail on court order today.
The arrested army man Guman Singh hails from village Mondai in Karoli district in Rajasthan and was allegedly operating the Whatsapp group from Fazilka in Punjab, where he was posted. The police said initial investigations suggested that Guman Singh was disturbed because his brother had passed the initial rounds for recruitment in the armed forces under the old recruitment scheme but all came to waste with the introduction of the new recruitment scheme.
The accused had allegedly issued life threats against union defence minister Rajnath Singh and had posted provocative messages against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the social media group named ‘Inqilab Zindabad’, which was found instrumental in fuelling violent protests in Agra on June 17.
“One such protest was held on the same day in Malpura area of Agra wherein a police jeep was damaged in stone-pelting, the roadside railing was uprooted and railway property was damaged by the angry mob lodging protest on and around Gwalior Road,” informed Satyajeet Gupta, Superintendent of Police Rural (Agra West), during a press conference held at police lines on Tuesday.
“A case was registered at Malpura police station, and arrests were made. During investigations, police came across a mobile of one of the arrested youth which had a social media group named ‘Inqilab Zindabad’ wherein provocative messages asking youth to damage government buses, and trains were made to oppose the Agnipath scheme,” stated Gupta.
The police said there were many admins of the group, but one admin was found to be much more vocal and had been filing objectionable audio and text messages regularly. “He was claiming that despite being in the army, he was protesting the new recruitment scheme. He urged the aspirants to come on the road and lodge their protest by burning buses, trains and damaging government property,” informed Gupta.
“We traced the army man and contacted local military intelligence in Agra. It was revealed that these provocative posts were made by Guman Singh, who was posted as Lance Naik with the Rajput Regiment at Fazilka in Punjab. The unit commander in Punjab was contacted, and an arrest warrant was obtained from the court by Agra police,” Gupta added.
“The commanding officer of the unit in Punjab was also alerted and they initiated a court of enquiry against Guman Singh. The accused was handed over to Agra police and was brought to Agra and presented before the court on Tuesday,” SP Rural (Agra West) stated.
Gupta said the Whatsapp group formed in the name of ‘Inqilab Zindabad’ had youths from Agra and Jaipur beside those from other districts.
“Around 100 to 150 used to join or leave the group and it had 300 floating members at any given point of time as the protest grew. The Whatsapp group was found instrumental in fuelling violence on Gwalior road within Agra district on June 17,” informed Gupta.
Gupta added that once the involvement of the army man emerged the police were extra cautious and carried out further investigations before going for the arrest.
“During the preliminary enquiry, it was revealed that the younger brother of Guman Singh had passed initial rounds for army recruitment through the old recruitment scheme but his plans were jeopardised because of the introduction of the Agnipath scheme and this prompted Guman Singh to organize a protest through social media by posting provocative messages,” informed Gupta.
“We have forwarded the mobile of the accused to the forensic lab to ascertain others involved,” stated Gupta.
