The Delhi High Court has ordered an investigation into police involvement in the Jahangirpuri skirmishes.

  • May 9, 2022, 10:36 a.m.

A Delhi court has said that the possible complicity of police officers in events that led to recent communal clashes in Jahangirpuri needs to be probed, adding that instead of stopping an illegal procession on Hanuman Jayanti, policemen accompanied those marching in the area.

Additional sessions judge Gagandeep Singh said in an order on Saturday that the procession held on April 16 did not have proper permission from the police, which accompanied the crowd along the entire route.

"It appears that the local police, instead of performing their duty in stopping the said illegal procession in the beginning itself and dispersing the crowd, were accompanying them on the entire route, which later on led to unfortunate riots between the two communities," the additional sessions judge said.

Deputy commissioner of police Usha Rangnani said in a statement: "It is being circulated in the media that local police of Jahangirpuri were present during the procession (Shobha Yatra) and didn’t stop it, despite the fact that it had no permission." In this regard, it is stated that the police have a prime and very focused responsibility of maintaining law and order in the area. If any situation erupts, then police have to see to it that the situation doesn’t worsen, and that’s the reason adequate policemen were there."

Clashes broke out between Hindu and Muslim groups during a religious procession in northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area on April 16, injuring some policemen and a resident. The incident took place when a procession of 350-400 people to mark Hanuman Jayanti was crossing Jahangirpuri’s C-Block, where a scuffle first broke out and then escalated into stone pelting.

Noting the fact that the procession during which the rioting took place was "illegal," the court said: "If that was the situation, then the contents of the FIR itself show that the local staff of police station Jahangirpuri, led by inspector Rajiv Ranjan as well as other officials from DCP reserve, were accompanying the said illegal procession on its route instead of stopping it."

It said that, prima facie, there was an "utter failure" by the Delhi Police in stopping the procession. The "issue seems to have been simply brushed aside by the senior officers," the court added. The court said the "complicity" of police officials, if any, needs to be investigated, and added that the "liability of the concerned officials needs to be fixed so that no such incident is repeated in the future" and that "police is not complacent in preventing illegal activities." It directed the commissioner of police to take remedial measures in the matter.

Rangnani said the crowd had already gathered for the religious procession and dispersing them forcefully could have led to a law and order problem. "As soon as the clashes broke out, the police controlled the situation in the minimum possible time and ensured no casualties took place. Both the communal groups were immediately separated, and as the stone and bottle pelting started, police officials stood like a wall and dispersed the crowd instantly."

Special commissioner of police Dependra Pathak said once the gathering was there, providing security instead of forcefully dispersing them was a step that was taken to ensure that law and order was maintained. "The moment the clash started, the policemen stood like a wall to ensure both groups didn’t meet each other." We contained the situation without any injury to civilians but one. Our men got injured but ensured civilians were not hurt and properties were not damaged, "he told HT. The court on Saturday denied bail to eight people accused of violence and said they had been identified on the basis of CCTV footage and by eyewitnesses. It added that the material investigation into the case was still underway and several offenders who were involved in the riots were yet to be apprehended.

"The apprehension has been expressed by the prosecution that the public witnesses will not come forward as the rioters are known criminals in the area. Therefore, the apprehension of threatening/influencing the witnesses cannot be ruled out at this stage, if the accused/applicant is released on bail at this stage. The charge sheet has yet to be filed. The allegations are serious against the accused/applicant, "the judge said."

Advocacy K Prabhakar Rao, appearing for the accused, said the prosecution had no evidence to prove that they were at the place of the alleged incident or directly or indirectly involved in the offence. The chief public prosecutor, Maqsood Ahmed, appearing for the police, opposed the bail pleas, saying the witnesses in the case were regularly receiving threats. HT has seen the copy of the FIR that the police filed on the alleged violence. The FIR filed by an inspector of the Jahangirpuri police station includes his statement in which he says that he, along with at least 11 policemen from the local station and another "staff from DCP reserve", were on "arrangement duty" related to the "Hanuman Jayanti celebrations" when violence broke out.

After the violence, the police registered another FIR under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and named two members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal for allegedly not taking permission for the procession.

The VHP’s national president, Vinod Bansal, said: "If we did not have permission, then how and why were 4-5 police personnel present with us?" If we had no permission, then what was the reason for deploying force against us? But we are proud of our police force. They helped save many of those carrying out the procession from attackers. "

Rangnani said a case was registered against the organisers for carrying out the procession without permission, the investigation into which is in progress. Hafiz Salahuddin, in charge of the C-Block mosque and who was present inside the mosque when clashes broke out right outside, said four to five policemen were present with the procession and others were called later when the matter escalated. "Those few policemen were trying their best to handle the situation, but it was out of their control because they were outnumbered." "If more policemen were present, then clashes wouldn’t have broken out," he said. The police have so far arrested 33 people and apprehended three juveniles for the violence. The Delhi Police’s crime branch is probing if the violence was a result of a conspiracy. A police team is currently in West Bengal to identify and arrest some of the absconding rioters. They are also probing if the violence was planned by illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, some of whom have settled in Haldia and Jahangirpuri.

Author : Rajdhani Delhi Representative

Rajdhani delhi representative

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