Rajdeep Sardesai, one of India’s foremost journalists and consulting editor of news channel India Today, has reportedly been taken off the air for two weeks after misreporting on a farmer’s death that led to violence and injury to several police officers in Delhi on 26 January, the day India celebrated its 72nd Republic Day.
As per reports coming in, Sardesai has also been docked of one month’s salary.
On January 26, Sardesai, in his news broadcast said that Navneet Singh, a farmer, had been killed in police firing and, to compound to this unverified report, he also sent out a tweet.
Sardesai also made the same claim during his live coverage on India Today on January 26. Speaking to the channel’s reporter Ankit Tyagi, Sardesai had said: “There is the dead body, which was shown to me of an individual who is allegedly Navneet Singh, 24 years old, was reportedly driving the tractor, comes from Western UP, and because he has been shot in the head…suffered a bullet injury which has resulted in his death.”
While the farm protestors claim that the deceased Navneet Singh was shot at by Delhi police while on a tractor, this video clearly shows that the tractor overturned while trying to break the police barricades. The farm protestors allegations don’t stand. Post mortem awaited.👇 pic.twitter.com/JnuU05psgR
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) January 26, 2021
Navneet, who had died because he drove his tractor rashly, was hailed by Sardesai who had said “he has now become a symbol and it is his death that has sparked an angry reaction”.
However, the Delhi police, which was at the receiving end of the farmer protests’ fury, released video footage of a tractor, reportedly being driven by Singh, ramming into police barricades. In that video one can clearly see the tractor overturned that led to Navneet Singh getting seriously injured. Singh later succumbed to his injuries.
Later to cover for his horrible news reporting, Sardesai tweeted the video, adding that the police showed “great restraint” with “no evidence of bullets fired” and explained his error during his show on the night of January 26.
He said: “These were the allegations that were being made at the time when we were reporting this afternoon. The eyewitnesses and the friends of the deceased, when we spoke to them, they were insistent that a shot had been fired and the tractor overturned because a shot was fired…However, the police version, and particularly the video, makes it very clear that the particular act of the tractor overturning could be the cause of death…The police version appears more credible than what the farm protesters are claiming.”
As per Delhi Police, Navneet Singh’s post-mortem report has confirmed that he died of injuries sustained from the accident. Also, there are reports, which are yet to be verified, that the protesters may have also tried to stop emergency aid from reaching Singh after the accident.