Farmers' leader Tewatia remanded to judicial custody

Noida, July 23 (ANI): The District and Sessions court of Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Budh Nagar District on Saturday granted the judicial remand of Manveer Singh Tevatia, the leader of Kishan Sangharsh Samiti, who allegedly planned the protest in Bhatta-Parsaul against the state's land acquisition policy.

Meanwhile, Tevatia's wife Nutan told mediapersons in Noida city that the she had no faith in the Uttar Pradesh Government, and added that they would be held responsible if anything goes wrong with her husband.

"I am most worried about his security, because I have no faith in the Uttar Pradesh Government and its administration. Hundreds of his supporters had gathered here to catch one glimpse of their leader, but the administration did not permit," said Nutan.

"They did not even allow the supporters to see him and they used a secret exit to go out of the court. The honourable judge also allowed him to speak to media for one minute. But the administration has insulted the court by not listening to it," she added.

Scores of Tewatia's supporters gathered near the court today and raised their voices for their jailed leader.

"If Tewatia is fighting for a valid reason, why is the court stopping him? The Supreme Court also agrees that the cause of the farmers is legal. The whole country fought during independence but we have been slave to the 1894 law and now our leader Tewatia has raised his voice against it," said Gajendra Singh, Tewatia's supporter.

According to advocate Balwant Singh Biloria, Tewatia had requested the court to shift him to any jail outside Uttar Pradesh, as he felt insecure inside the Noida jail.

"Police had applied for a remand and the court has granted a judicial remand of 15 days. The next day of hearing is August 6. During the hearing, Tewatia had put across his demand of shifting him to any jail outside UP, as he feels a threat to his life. As a reply to this, the court said it would consider the demand," he said.

A special squad of the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested Tewatia from New Delhi's Tilak Marg area on July 9 for allegedly instigating farmers' violence in Bhatta Parsaul in May. (ANI)