Hours after bail, actor Deep Sidhu arrested again over Red Fort violence

New Delhi, Apr 17: Barely a couple of hours after receiving bail from a court, the Delhi Police has arrested actor-activist Deep Sidhu again in another case.

The arrest was made on the basis of an FIR filed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)n connection with Republic Day violence in which protesting farmers desecrated Red Fort and hoist religious flags atop the historical monument.

Earlier in the day, Special Judge Neelofer Abida Perveen granted relief to the accused on Friday on a personal bond of Rs 30,000 and two sureties of the like amount.

Sidhu was arrested on February 9 in connection with the Red Fort violence on Republic Day during a farmers' tractor parade against the Centre's new agriculture laws.

The court noted that the accused was in custody since February 9, with 14 days of remand in police custody.

It said that a police plea for further incarceration for the sole purpose of voice sampling was not justifiable.

"The prosecution's case rests largely and on the contents of video recordings and footage available and accessible to all on social media sites in public domain, and there is, therefore, a remote possibility of the accused-applicant being able to interfere with the content on such platform," the judge said.

On January 26, thousands of protesting farmers who reached ITO in Delhi from the Ghazipur border clashed with police, it was claimed in the FIR registered in connection with the Red Fort violence, and that many of them who were driving tractors reached the Red Fort and entered the monument, where a religious flag was also hoisted.

In the FIR, police said two magazines with 20 live cartridges were snatched from two constables by protesters who also damaged vehicles and robbed anti-riot gear.