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Rahul’s tractor march: Police trace vehicle owner, register FIR
New Delhi: The tractor that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi drove to Parliament along with other party MPs in protest against the three farm laws on Monday belongs to a person in Haryana’s Sonepat, the Delhi Police’s internal inquiry into the alleged security breach has found, senior police officers aware of the matter said on Tuesday
New Delhi: The tractor that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi drove to Parliament along with other party MPs in protest against the three farm laws on Monday belongs to a person in Haryana’s Sonepat, the Delhi Police’s internal inquiry into the alleged security breach has found, senior police officers aware of the matter said on Tuesday. They also said that the container truck in which the tractor was brought to Lutyens’ Delhi was also from Sonepat.
A senior officer confirmed on Tuesday that an FIR has been filed in the case but did not divulge under what sections the case has been filed or who has been named in the report.
“Through the tractor’s engine and chassis number, its ownership was established in the name of one Ajay from Sonepat. The registered owner of the container truck is Surender, who is also from Sonepat. A separate notice will be served to both of them, seeking their explanation on who booked the vehicles and on whose directions the tractor was delivered at the Rajya Sabha MP’s office,” a senior police officer said, asking not to be identified.
During the enquiry, the officers said, it emerged that the container truck loaded with the tractor had started from Sonepat, with the occupants of the vehicle -- investigators didn’t made it clear how many people were in the truck -- using a permission letter allegedly issued by Congress Rajya Sabha MP, Dr Amee Yajnik, to enter the Lutyens’ zone, where no heavy commercial vehicle is allowed unless it has obtained permission from the police department.
“The occupants of the container truck produced the permission letter when they were stopped by the police personnel in central Delhi and claimed the truck contained the MP’s household stuff that were being moved to her new address in Lutyens’ zone. Since they showed the MP’s permission letter, the police personnel did not check the vehicle or stop it,” said another senior police officer associated with the inquiry, requesting not to be named.
Even as police are trying to find out if the MP’s letter was genuine or forged, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “It has nothing to do with Dr Amee Yajnik who is actually from Gujarat and is new in Delhi. It was I who organised the tractor from Haryana. I have already offered the Delhi Police to take action against me in the matter.”
Police are also trying to ascertain the exact routes the vehicle took to reach the restricted zone.
Investigators have not yet located the container truck though the tractor was seized on Monday morning after Wayanad MP Gandhi, who drove the vehicle allegedly from the office of KTS Tulsi, another Rajya Sabha MP, was stopped by police personnel 70-80 metres away from the Parliament.
Ten Congress leaders, including Surjewala and Youth Congress chief Srinivas BV, were detained and taken to the Mandir Marg police station even as Gandhi walked inside the Parliament. The detained leaders were released late in the afternoon.
Another police officer said that the tractor was driven for 1.5-km -- reportedly from Tulsi’s office to the Parliament -- allegedly without a registration number plate.
On police’s allegations that the tractor was kept at his office, Tulsi on Monday said that he was unaware of all the details because he was out of Delhi. “But if it has happened, I am proud of it. While the whole country is aghast over the manner with which the farmers of this country are being treated, this (tractor rally) will draw the attention of the central government. The Congress party is actually doing a great job. Everyone should put their heads together to resolve this (farmers) issue. It’s a matter of life and death for the farmers,” said Tulsi.
On Monday, police officers said that the internal inquiry was launched to look into the security breach in the wake of the ongoing farmers’ protest at the Jantar Mantar, the monsoon session of Parliament and the Independence Day, for which nearly 5,000 personnel have been deployed in central Delhi.
The objective of the inquiry is to also look into the failure of the police to prevent the entry of a tractor in central Delhi without prior permission by the authorities. Tractors have been barred from entering central Delhi, especially Lutyens’ zone, since September last year when a tractor was set on fire at the India Gate by some Punjab Youth Congress workers to mark their protest against the three farm laws.
