#FarmersProtest: Assassin paid to kill farmer leaders caught

Yesterday (22 January) #FarmersProtest representatives held a press conference where they revealed they had caught an assassin that was assigned by Indian authorities to murder farmer leaders.

The masked assassin was presented before media whilst surrounded by farmers representatives at a press conference held at night. The assassin is one of several men that have been caught by farmers after suspicious behaviour either to cause trouble for the protesters or spy on them. Some have done so by dressing up as Sikhs.

The assassin said he was to be paid 10,000 rupees by the Station House Officer, Pradeep Singh, of Rai Police Station in Sonipat Haryana, to be part of a team that would dress up as police officers and shoot four lead figures of the farmers protest at the planned Republic Day rally (26 January). Rai Police station has a history of such acts.

The assassin, whose identity was kept hidden, said he had been working in such a role for four years with others. His role included disrupting and attacking various protests. The assassin also revealed he was part of at least two teams dispatched by Indian authorities to attack protesters and disrupt the Republic Day rally.

Some reporters have stated the number of protest attendees, which was already in the hundreds of thousands, has doubled in the lead up to the Republic Day demonstration. Many have joined to be part of the planned tractor rally in and around Delhi to highlight the farmers’ continuing resistance against the Indian state’s attempt to implement new exploitative farm bills. Indian authorities, worried about the attention the rally will direct towards their mistreatment of farmers, have continually spoken against the demonstration.

For more on this story, you can follow a twitter breakdown from respected on-the-ground reporter Sandeep Singh or check the press conference directly.