JAIPUR: A fact-finding team of the Rajasthan People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) which visited villages in Tonk district to probe into the police firing on farmers on June 13 has termed the police action as "unprovoked'' and "unwarranted''. The PUCL, which has intimated the National Human Rights Commission on its preliminary findings, has sought a delegation from NHRC to investigate the incident.

"An indiscriminate and absolutely unwarranted police firing has caused five deaths, including the death of an innocent pregnant woman, aged about 35 years, within the precincts of her house. The incident has left another 30 persons injured, some of them seriously,'' PUCL told NHRC. The Commission has since issued notices to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, Rajasthan, asking them to reply within a fortnight.

"The entire sequence of events shows that the guidelines for control of mob as provided in the law (Cr.P.C and Police Act) and in the judicial rulings were callously ignored by the police and the administration. The protocols for the use of firearms were not followed and the situation was allowed to deteriorate so much so that it went beyond control,'' the PUCL probe team led by its president Than Singh said talking to mediapersons here on Tuesday.

"It was indiscriminate firing on a group of farmers asking for water. The authorities, who filed to anticipate the seriousness of the situation even after the villagers blocked the National Highway No.12 for about four hours that day at Sohela, did not take any timely action to disperse the mob,'' Mr.Singh sad. The police did not use tear gas or water cannons and lathi charge was done after the firing, which in some cases, further hurt persons already hit by bullets, he pointed out.

PUCL general secretary Kavita Srivastava said a callous and indifferent police not only refused to file any case against the erring police personnel but instead named as many as 49 farmers from Sohela, Piplu, Todaraisingh, Bareni and Malpura, including those killed in firing, in their FIR.

"This is a classic example as to how cruel the State can get. This is obviously an attempt on the part of the police to show that the farmers were dangerous persons and were carrying lethal weapons,'' Radhakant Saxena, a former official with Rajasthan police and vice president of Rajasthan PUCL, said.

The FIR has Sections 147, 148, 149 (carrying fatal weapons), Sections 151,152,153 (Conspiracy) and still more serious Sections like 307 (attempt to murder), 395 (Armed dacoity) slapped against them.

The PUCL team which had four lawyers with it, on its visit to the area on July 5, tried to get FIRs registered on behalf of the victims at Baroni police station under the provision of Section 154 of Indian Penal Code. But they were turned back by the station house officer and the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Tonk.

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