Hitting out at the Centre over the income tax raids carried out on premises of several arhtiyas (commission agents) of Punjab within four days of issuing notices, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that this was done with the intention of weakening the farmers' agitation.
Taking to Twitter, the chief minister posted a news report of the IT raids and said the raids were orderd by the Centre on the traders in Punjab who have been helping the farmers in their struggle and added that it is wrong to harass the traders.
“Today, the entire country stands with the farmers. Against whom will the Centre probe," he asked.
पंजाब के जो व्यापारी किसानों को संघर्ष में मदद कर रहे हैं, उन पर केंद्र सरकार इंकम टैक्स के छापे डाल रही है। व्यापारियों को इस तरह परेशान करना सरासर गलत है
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 20, 2020
किसान आंदोलन को कमज़ोर करने के लिए ये सब किया जा रहा है
आज पूरा देश किसानों के साथ खड़ा है, केंद्र किस-किस पर छापे मारेगी? pic.twitter.com/iyU4hHyX1H
The raids were reportedly carried even before those who were served notices came up with a response. A total of 14 commission agents from across Punjab received notices from the IT Department, say media reports.
On Saturday, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had accused the Union government of resorting to intimidation tactics against arhtiyas by conducting income tax raids. Even the local police were not informed or taken into confidence as is the normal procedure, he claimed, adding that the CRPF was used to provide security during the raids by the I-T teams.
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The chief minister said it is evident that having failed to persuade, mislead and divide farmers into ending their prolonged protest against the black farm laws, the Centre is now trying to weaken their struggle by targeting the commission agents, who have been actively supporting the farmers' agitation.
What is this if not a clear case of vendetta politics by the Centre, which is hell-bent on demolishing the farmers' protest by hook or crook, asked Amarinder Singh.
Among the victims of the night-long raids were Vijay Kalra (president, Punjab Arhtiya Association), Pawan Kumar Goyal (president, Samana Mandi), Jaswinder Singh Rana (Patiala district president), Manjinder Singh Walia (president, Nawanshahr), Hardeep Singh Ladda (president, Rajpura) and Kartar Singh and Amrik Singh (commission agents from Rajpura), he said.
—With PTI inputs
