Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu, one of the accused in the Republic Day Red Fort violence of 2021, died on Tuesday, February 15, in a road accident that reportedly took place on the Western Peripheral Expressway in Haryana.

“Mr Sidhu was going from Delhi to Bhatinda in Punjab when the car in which he was travelling in rammed a trailer truck at 9.30pm,” said the police after the accident, as per NDTV.

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NDTV further reported that the 37-year-old actor was killed on spot, and was pronounced dead on arrival when he was taken to a hospital.

Sidhu was accused of being involved in the Red Fort violence on Republic Day in January 2021, where he allegedly instigated protesters during a farmers’ tractor rally and helped protesters hoist a flag at the iconic fort.

During the incident, Sidhu started a Facebook live stream showing the hoisting of the ‘Nishan Sahib’ flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

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“We have only hoisted the Nishan Sahib flag on the Red Fort while exercising our democratic right to protest,” Sidhu was heard saying in the Facebook live video.

He was arrested on February 9, 2021 in connection with the chaos at the Red Fort, and was granted bail on April 16. He was arrested almost immediately afterwards, but was granted bail a second time in April 2021, under the condition that he would make himself available for questioning whenever the Delhi police called him.

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Sidhu came into the public spotlight as the winner of the winner of Kingfisher Model Hunt, and had a brief acting career, appearing in movies such as ‘Ramta Jogi’ (2015),  ‘Jora 10 Numbaria’ (2017), and ‘Rang Punjab’ (2018) among others.

The 37-year-old actor entered politics during the 2019 general elections, campaigning for BJP MP Sunny Deol from the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency.