'New' faces, chain of tractor owners making probe an arduous task
New Delhi: As the Delhi Police try to move to the 'conspiracy' part of their investigations into the Republic Day violence in the Capital, a massive challenge for investigators has been to separate genuine protesters from what they have called 'anti-social' elements trying to derail the march. While the police have received an outpouring of help from members of the public in the form of video and photographic evidence of the day, and while the officers have singled out individuals responsible for the violence, many of them have had no criminal history hence making it almost impossible for the police to use facial recognition software to match their details with an existing database.
Police sources said that several photographs have been developed through videos which they got from the public and other sources. "Identification is going on about who all are these people. We have got a facial recognition cameras system in which we can identify criminals but there are also new faces and probe is going on," a source said.
When asked about what and who mobilised protestors to enter the Red Fort, a source privy to the investigation told Millennium Post that it will be too early to say anything but they have come through a post in one of the social media platforms which talks about forcing the government into a corner by taking the police hostage and earlier planning.
"Within minutes it was deleted. We are investigating the further details of the post to ascertain the truth behind it and also we are trying to reach the person who posted it," an official said.
However, to identify people with no record on a criminal database, investigators will scan dump data, posters containing photographs will be pasted, and will publicise the photographs through different channels. The investigators will take help from RTOs to identify them through their driving licenses. "The investigation will take long but yes we will solve all cases and all accused will be behind bars," investigators asserted.
Police on Wednesday arrested one Dharmendra Singh for the violence in Red Fort. "He had joined some social group and used to contribute things like food in protests in bordering areas," the official said. On the day of the incident, he also followed other tractors and reached Red Fort.
Another factor making the probe an arduous task is looking for owners of tractors that entered Red Fort. "There is a possibility that the first tractor owner had sold it to another person and that person had sold it further without changing registration details and even we have to check whether the tractors were driven by original owners or by someone else," a source said.
Delhi Police also questioned one person, belonging to one of the farmer unions over the violence. When he was asked about the tractor, the person replied that he had sold his tractor two years ago.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police have started checking hotels and guest houses to know who are staying there to ensure no anti-social elements get involved in any kind of untoward incident of February 6. Officials have also interacted with representatives of Gurudwaras in their respective districts and assured them of their safety. They have also asked them to inform them about any suspicious person staying in the religious place.
