The Delhi Police Crime Branch took Punjabi actor and activist Deep Sidhu to the Red Fort on Saturday, 13 February reportedly for recreating the events as they had unfolded during the farmers’ tractor rally on Republic Day.
Another accused Iqbal Singh also accompanied Sidhu. A senior police official told news agency PTI that the investigative team will “corroborate the route taken by them and their activities at the Red Fort,” to ascertain how the violence broke out on Republic Day.
News agency ANI also put out visuals of the duo arriving at the Red Fort.
Sidhu was arrested on Monday, 8 February, from Karnal, Haryana, as the police believe him to be a “prominent player” behind the violence and vandalism in Delhi on 26 January. Iqbal Singh was nabbed from Hoshiarpur in Punjab.
Sidhu had earlier admitted to raising the Nishan Sahib flag at the Red Fort during the 26 January unrest in Delhi, following which farm union leaders accused him of provoking farmers to change the designated route of the tractor rally and march to the Red Fort.
After a video of Sidhu being chased by protesting farmers at the protest site went viral, he was claimed to be absconding. However, Sidhu reportedly told the police that the reason for him having been in hiding was because “his life was at risk.”
The Hindustan Times had reported that he told the police that he feared he will be killed since the farm leaders have solely blamed him for the violence on that day.
He also stated that the tractor rally was a “well planned" event, and the farmer leaders in Punjab and at the Singhu Border were heard telling other farmers about their plans of taking the tractor rally to New Delhi, Parliament, India Gate and the Red Fort weeks ahead of Republic Day.
On Tuesday, 9 February, Sidhu was sent to seven-day police custody by a Delhi court.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)