Two on duty Special Branch officials of the Delhi Police were assaulted allegedly by a group of people at Singhu Border where farmers have been protesting against the Centre’s farm laws for over six months now.

Police said the two policemen on duty in civil clothes are Assistant Sub Inspectors (ASI) and they were allegedly beaten up by the group of people on June 10 when they were at the Singhu Border to oversee the security arrangements.

It is alleged that the two policemen were allegedly found clicking pictures at the protest site when they were allegedly assaulted by the group.

According to a senior police official, during the incident, one of the policemen got a fracture in his wrist while the other ASI sustained severe injuries on his leg.

“Both of them have been discharged after treatment. They were beaten up by people present at the spot. Some of them involved in the incident have been identified but we are yet to find out who they were,” he said. 

Police said the nature of job of the policemen posted with Special Branch is different. “They are regularly deployed to keep an eye on the situation and security arrangements in place. To report on the appropriate action taken by the local police,” said the senior police official.

“A case has been registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections of assaulting public servant while on duty, voluntarily causing grievous hurt and other relevant sections including Delhi Disaster Management Act at Narela police station,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 farmer unions, said they will organise dharnas at governor houses across the country on June 26 to mark the completion of seven months of their agitation against the three new Central agri-marketing laws.

They will show black flags during their June 26 protest and send memorandums to President Ram Nath Kovind. Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s borders for more than six months now in protest against the three laws that they say will leave them at the mercy of big corporates and end the MSP regime.

The government has said all these concerns are baseless and that the new laws are pro-farmer. The Supreme Court has put on hold the implementation of the laws till further orders and set up a committee to examine the issues.