Delhi Police accuse AAP of obstructing efforts to save farmer

New Delhi, April 23:

Delhi Police have accused the Aam Aadmi Party and its leaders of obstructing their effort to save farmer Gajendra Singh from committing suicide at an AAP rally and have refused to join the magisterial probe ordered by the Delhi government.

Police, whom the AAP leadership accused of not doing anything to save the life of the farmer, have in their FIR countered that workers and leaders of the AAP did not cooperate in their efforts to save the farmer from Rajasthan.

Gajendra Singh committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree at the AAP rally at Jantar Mantar here on Wednesday.

According to the FIR, AAP workers and leaders did not pay heed to requests made by police to allow emergency vehicles and the fire brigade to move in.

S.S. Yadav, a police inspector who was on duty at the rally venue and who filed the FIR, said he saw some people clapping and looking up towards the tree where a man was weilding a broom.

The FIR was registered under sections including those dealing with abetment of suicide and obstructing public servant in discharge of public duty.

According to the FIR, Yadav asked AAP workers not to “instigate” the man and to help police bring him down from the tree. Yadav also informed the Police Control Room and his senior officials.

Yadav said he urged AAP workers to make way for the rescue vehicle but was told that police were against the party. He said AAP leaders on podium and workers on the ground did not cooperate.

Yadav said he saw the man had tied a “gamcha” around his neck and called for fire brigade with a tall ladder to reach him.

The FIR quoted Yadav as saying that AAP workers continued to “incite” the farmer through clapping. The man later hanged himself.

Yadav said some people tried to climb the tree and though they were told that a fire brigade has been called,they did not pay heed. The man later fell to the ground.

The FIR said AAP workers were keen that the man was taken to a hospital in their vehicle but police rushed him in their vehicle to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

Police on Thursday refused to join the magisterial probe ordered by the Delhi government into the farmer’s suicide, saying the designated officer did not have jurisdiction in the matter.

“We have written a letter saying that he (the district magistrate) has no jurisdiction,” Delhi Police Commissio9ner B.S. Bassi told the media.

Bassi also said the preliminary medical report based on autopsy of Gajendra Singh revealed that the cause of his death was hanging.

The Delhi government headed by the AAP on Wednesday asked district magistrate of New Delhi to probe the suicide.

New Delhi district Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Singh wrote to New Delhi’s District Magistrat that an FIR has been registered and police were probing the case.

“Kindly refer to your letter dated 22.04.2015 regarding death of one person on 22.04.2015 at Jantar Mantar during the Aam Aadmi Party rally. In this regard, it is informed that the incident quoted by you is the subject matter of the case FIR registered at Parliament Street police station. Therefore, you have no jurisdiction regarding this matter,” the letter said.

Earlier in the day, Home Minister Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha that the investigation into the suicide had been handed over to the Crime Branch and Delhi Police had been asked for time-bound inquiry. (IANS)