1000 held for rioting at Bhopal rally against farm laws

Nearly 1000 unidentified people including Congress workers have been booked for allegedly rioting and using criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty during a rally against the Centre’s three new farm laws in Bhopal on Saturday, the police said.

110 Congress leaders, including former chief minister and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh, Congress MLAs PC Sharma, Sajjan Verma, Jaivardhan Singh, Kunal Choudhary and others were arrested under Section 151 of CrPC (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offence), said Upendra Jain, additional director general of police (ADG), Bhopal.

During the rally, a large number of unidentified Congress workers clashed with police personnel in which the police, mediapersons and about a dozen Congress leaders and workers sustained injuries, said the ADG.

“Congress workers and other protestors went out of control and manhandled police personnel. They also vandalized barricades and police vehicles. Police resorted to baton charge, used water cannons and fired tear gas to control the mob, said the ADG.

A case has been registered against 1000 unidentified people under Section 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), he added.

However, Congress leaders accused the police of using force to create a nuisance during a peaceful protest of farmers and Congress. Former minister and Congress MLA Brijendra Singh Rathore said, “Police used force to create a nuisance during the peaceful protest. Many leaders were injured seriously in the baton charge of the police.”

Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath also attacked the BJP-led state government and said, “Police used force against the farmers and Congress workers during the peaceful protest. This barbaric act of the BJP-led state government is unacceptable. But this will not stop us. We will continue our struggle against the anti-farmers laws of the Centre,” said Kamal Nath.

However, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “The protest is not for farmers but for retaining the posts in MPCC. Congress leaders are more concerned about their posts than farmers. We had already seen during the regime of the Congress government that how sensitive they were for farmers. They cheated farmers in the name of a farm loan waiver scheme. The protest was just a drama and nothing else.”