Punia had also alleged that locals who came to the borders, demanding farmers to clear the roads, were from the BJP.
On Saturday, Delhi Police detained a freelance journalist, alleging that he had misbehaved with a station house officer (SHO) at the Singhu border on Saturday night, the Indian Express reported.
Mandeep Punia, who works as a freelancer with The Caravan and Junputh, was moving through roadblocks and barricades when the alleged incident took place, the police informed.
A video doing rounds on social media showed a group of policemen with lathis forcibly taking Punia away. Police said that another journalist, Dharmender Singh, was also briefly picked up and later let go after he showed his press ID.
Mandeep Punia being detained by police pic.twitter.com/gHZJ9KtUq0
— Sandeep Singh (@PunYaab) January 30, 2021
Punia’s colleagues and other users claimed that hours before his detention, Punia had posted a Facebook Live about the Singhu violence on Friday, detailing how men claiming to be locals had pelted stones at the protest site in full view of the police. Punia had also alleged that locals who came to the borders, demanding farmers to clear the roads, were from the BJP.
However, a senior police officer claimed: “Punia was standing with the protesters and he didn’t have a press ID card. He was trying to move through the barricades which were kept to segregate and secure the area. An altercation broke out between police personnel and him. He misbehaved… there was some manhandling as well. He was then detained.”
After Punia was picked, several farmer leaders called for his release.
Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav tweeted, “I have known Mandeep to be a passionate and committed journalist. Picking up someone like him, without any legal basis, is another instance of growing threat to free media.”
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