Video from Punjab: Tractor runs over farm law protestors, kills 2, injures 3 others

The tractor which ran over two women in Amritsar, image via Amar Ujala

In a shocking incident, two protesting women died on the spot and three others were seriously injured after a tractor participating in the tractor rally during farmer protests ran over a group of women in Amritsar.

According to the reports, a group of farmers had organized a tractor rally in Vallah in Amritsar, Punjab on Republic Day to protest against the three farm laws passed by the Modi government. As the protesting farmers took out a rally, one of the tractors participating in the protests lost its control and mowed down the women protestors present at the spot.

According to an eye witness, a water tanker ran over a group of women who were on their way to join the sit-in supporting the farmers’ interests after paying obeisance in Gurudwara.

“A group of 50-60 women were going to the protest site near the Attari-Berka bypass in Valla in solidarity with the farmers’ protests when a water tanker ran over them. The villagers captured the driver and called the police to the accident site,” said the eye-witness.

The video of the incident has gone viral on the internet. In the shocking video, it can be seen how the tractor driver ran over the women protestors. He did not stop the tractor even as it trampled down the women protestors, who fought to save their lives.

https://twitter.com/ChhoroMarwadi/status/1354708081385435139?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Tractor driver did not know how to drive, no license too

According to the police, the protestor who ran over the women did not know how to drive a tractor. The driver did not have any license to drive the tractor but participated in protests, the police added.

He added that the protestors were going to join the sit-in being held supporting the farmers’ protests. “A water tanker hit five women as part of a larger group going to join the sit-in in support of farmers’ protests, two of whom died and three got seriously wounded. The villagers nabbed the driver and called the police. We have started the investigation and taken the driver into custody,” said Kumar.

The crowd present at the spot soon nabbed the driver and thrashed him. The police later filed a case and took the driver into their custody. The injured have been admitted to the Guru Ramdas Hospital.

Reportedly, the tractor parade was announced by the farmer’s organizations on 26 January. The Gurudwara near the village had given a call asking the villagers to join the protest march. Many women had also participated in the rally with hundreds of tractor trolleys joined them near the Attari-Verka bypass on Tuesday afternoon.

The driver has been identified as Makkhan Windy, a resident of Sukh Putra Gulzar Singh, who worked as a Raj Mistry.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia