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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted a raid on the residence of Sukhwinder Kaur, the general secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU-Krantikari), in Rampura Phul, Punjab, on Friday morning. This action sparked protests from farmer unions, who accused the central government of employing pressure tactics. The raid occurred amidst ongoing protests by farmers at the Punjab-Haryana border, demanding various agricultural reforms, including a legal guarantee for minimum support prices (MSP).
The NIA team, arriving at 7 am, searched Sukhwinder Kaur's home for two hours, despite her absence. She was reportedly at the Shambhu border, where farmers have been protesting since February 13, following the halting of their Delhi Chalo march. The NIA's press release stated that searches were conducted at nine locations across Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, including Sukhwinder Kaur's residence. The agency claimed to have seized digital devices and diaries from suspects believed to be receiving funds for promoting CPI (Maoist) ideology.
The NIA investigation revealed that the ERB, particularly Jharkhand, had allegedly been funding these suspects to recruit cadres and expand the organization in northern states, aiming to carry out terrorist activities. However, farmers and union leaders denounced the NIA raid, labeling it as a politically motivated attempt to tarnish their image and exert pressure on them, particularly in view of the upcoming Haryana assembly elections on October 1.
Harpinder Singh Jalal, Sukhwinder Kaur's husband, stated that the NIA officials presented a search warrant issued by a Lucknow court in connection with a Maoist case registered in 2023. He reported that his mobile phone, a pen drive, and some literature were confiscated during the raid. BKU (Krantikari) president Surjit Singh Phul expressed the union's stance, claiming the government was intimidated by the ongoing protests at the Shambhu border and that the NIA raid was a pressure tactic by the BJP government.
Another union leader, requesting anonymity, pointed out that Sukhwinder Kaur had been booked under Section 307 of the IPC in 2000 during protests against the Jethuke police firing incident, which resulted in the deaths of two Dalit youngsters. Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) convener Sarwan Singh Pandher criticized the Modi government for misusing central agencies to target farmers, stating that the raid's timing coincided with the completion of 200 days of the morcha at the Shambhu border.
He further claimed that the government had previously labeled the farmers as Khalistanis and would now likely assign them a new derogatory label. He asserted that the farmers were not intimidated by the NIA raids. Despite the tensions, Bathinda superintendent of police (SP) Narinder Singh reported that police were deployed to maintain law and order during the farmers' protest and that the situation was resolved after discussions with union leaders, enabling the NIA team to depart after completing their procedures.
The ongoing protests at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders have been characterized by farmers' demands for a legal guarantee for MSP, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's formula, full debt waiver for farmers, pension for farmers and laborers, and the withdrawal of cases against farmers during the 2020-21 protest. The NIA raid, amidst this backdrop, further escalated the conflict between the government and farmer groups, highlighting the deep-seated tensions surrounding agricultural policies and the perceived political motives behind investigations into farmer movements.
Source: NIA raids woman farm union leader’s house in Punjab’s Rampura Phul amid protest