Punjab Cong leaders meet Shah, raise concerns over youths ‘missing’ after Red Fort incident

New Delhi: Congress MP Manish Tewari, and Punjab ministers Sukhjinder Randhawa and Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria met Home Minister Amit Shah in the Parliament House on Monday to trace the whereabouts of people ”missing” since January 26 in the national capital during farmers’ tractor parade.

The Punjab leaders and MLA Raj Kumar Chhabbewal expressed their concerns over the ”missing youths” who were detained by the Delhi Police after the incident, and they demanded their early release.

The Punjab government later provided details of 120 people from the state who have been arrested by Delhi police in various cases registered during the tractor parade.

Randhawa and Sarkaria later said that in order to fight the legal cases of people arrested by the Delhi Police, the Punjab government has formed a team of 40 advocates who have already started their work.

He said the advocates would meet the arrested persons and their families and fight the legal battle to provide justice to these persons free of cost. The ministers said at a press conference that they have also appealed to the central government for taking a lenient view towards those arrested.

During the meeting, Shah stated that the list of arrested persons has been uploaded on the Home Ministry’s website and if the state government provided any other list of missing persons, the central government would leave no stone unturned to find the whereabouts of such persons, Randhawa said.

On the deadlock between the Centre and farmer unions over farm laws, Randhawa said the home minister stated that the central government is ready for talks and waiting for farmers’ response in this regard.

”The chief minister has called an all-party meeting on February 2 to evolve a consensus on the way forward on the issue of farm laws and the farmer’s agitation in the light of the recent developments in Delhi,” the minister said.

The Delhi Police has said it filed over 35 cases and arrested more than 80 people in connection with the violence and vandalism in the national capital during a tractor parade on January 26 by the farmers protesting against the three new central agriculture laws.

Concerns have been raised in Punjab over some of the youths having gone ”missing” after they were protesting at the Singhu border and having participated in the agitations at the Red Fort on Republic Day.