Blamed for Jan 26 violence, Lakha Sidhana not new to controversies

A gangster-turned-social activist, being blamed for instigating the protesters resulting in violence on Republic Day, Wednesday claimed that he solely marched as much as the Outer Ring Street within the nationwide capital and by no means had any agenda of going in direction of the Purple Fort.

Lakhbir Singh Sidhana aka Lakha Sidhana, a local of Sidhana village in Punjab’s Bathinda, accused the federal government and police of conspiring in opposition to the farmers’ agitation whereas claiming that he at all times known as for peace.

“I’m pained on the incidents that happened on Tuesday however I’m not concerned in these. There isn’t any video, picture or different proof that exhibits that I instigated individuals. We had marched in direction of the Outer Ring Street following our farmer leaders in a peaceable method. We by no means had any agenda of going in direction of the Purple Fort,” the 40-year-old stated.

Sidhana, who has been tenting on the Singhu border since November 26, additionally denied allegations that he shared the stage with actor Deep Sidhu, who can also be being blamed for instigating violence, on the Singhu border on Monday night time, claiming that he tried to relax individuals who needed to take out the march on the Outer Ring Street.

Sidhana claimed that just about 20 farmer leaders went until Ring Street with their cadres in a peaceable method and returned quickly after. He claimed that in style sentiment was in help of going to the Ring Street as farmer unions had introduced first on January 2 after which on January 17 that they are going to perform the tractor rally there.

Sidhana, who heads Malwa Youth Federation which claims to do social welfare works in villages, has greater than 25 felony circumstances registered in opposition to him in Punjab. They embody homicide, try to homicide, kidnapping, and below Arms Act. A humanities graduate from Punjabi College, Patiala, Sidhana claims to have give up the crime world for social work.

He joined the Folks’s Occasion of Punjab in 2011, and give up in 2013.

Since then, Sidhana gained recognition within the Malwa area, having helped marry off a number of women from weaker sections and serving to households in money and type.

He hit the headlines in October 2017 for allegedly defacing English signages demanding that they be written in Punjabi. He was arrested and despatched to Faridkot Trendy Jail from the place he did a reside session on Facebook attraction farmers to not burn paddy stubble. A cellphone was recovered from his barrack and he was booked in a case of dishonest. In Might 2019, he and 60 others had been booked in an try to homicide case whereas taking out a protest rally in Badal village.