As many as 122 rioters have been arrested and 44 cases have been registered in connection with the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor rally on Indian Republic Day, the Delhi Police said on Monday.
According to the force's public relations officer Eish Singhal, police have taken the step of providing information about all the arrested people on their website - which the general public is free to view - to clear the air of any sort of confusion.
"There are various rumours being spread about illegal detention and missing farmers since the violence on 26 January. Their details are available on Delhi Police website. No one has been illegally detained by the police," Singhal said.
The statement from the police came hours after a plea was made in the Delhi High Court to seek the "release of all persons including, but not limited to, farmers who have been illegally detained on or after 26 January, in and around Singhu Border, Tikri Border and Ghazipur border".
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police on Monday increased the security, placed barricades and spread razorwire across several roads near the border of Delhi to prevent protesting farmers from entering the national capital during the annual budget session in Parliament.
Since late November 2020, farmers have been protesting against the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.
According to the government, the laws allow farmers to sell their produce at places apart from their designated agriculture market. They are also designed to allow contract farming under which they can enter into supply agreements with private firms for remunerative and pre-determined prices.
Farmers believe that the new laws would pave the way for dismantling the minimum support price system (MSP) as part of state procurement of their harvest, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.
