Police station torching: Probe initiated, cops recall horror
KOTKHAI:A day after an angry mob torched the local police station after vandalising it, complete calm prevailed in the apple heartland even as the district administration sent more reinforcements to the town, and police started an inquiry into Wednesday’s incident of arson.
All business establishments in the town remained closed on a bandh call given by the Kotkhai Beopar Mandal. There was no protest though the community was abuzz about the death of a Nepalese accused in the Kotkhai murder case.
Mohit Bamta, a Kotkhai resident, summed up the sentiments of many when he said, “I don’t support any damage to public property but I also believe that innocents should not be targeted.”
Cops present on duty at the police station recalled the horror of facing an angry mob. “It was about noon that a mob protesting the death of Suraj attacked the police station,” recounted a cop of 6th battalion guarding the police station.
“What could we do? Half of us were without helmets when the mob resorted to stone-pelting,” said an inspector-level officer who sustained head injuries during the protest.
“I had nothing to guard, we had no orders from top about what to do,” said a policeman outside the police station. The angry mob led by local youths entered the police station and vandalised the rooms.
“They burnt down all records, computers and furniture. There is nothing left here,” said Ramesh, a cop.
“All I can remember is that a stout youth egged the crowd on to set the police station on fire,” he recounts. “I thought of firing in self-defence when the mob attacked but I feared that the crowd would become even more violent, so I restrained myself,” said a woman inspector.
There are nearly 150 policemen guarding the otherwise sleepy hill town.
Superintendent of Police (crime) Ashok Sharma and SP Railway and Traffic, Pankaj Sharma, today visited the town and launched an inquiry into the burning of police station and the three police vehicles. HILAILA(KOTKHAI): Ringed by snowcapped mountains and scenic apple orchards, the small village of Hilaila in Himachal Pradesh’s Kotkhai is breathtaking in its beauty. On Thursday, though, it was grief that was most noticeable as locals trekked up a hill to the forest hut of 22-year-old Mamata Singh.
Her husband Suraj was an accused in the gangrape and murder of a 16-year-old local schoolgirl until he died in a scuffle in police custody early on Wednesday, sparking violent protests across the state where such incidences are unheard of.
Mamata, though, is yet to learn about Suraj’s death and is distraught that her 29-year-old husband hasn’t returned home.
“Can you tell me something about my husband? Where is he? No one says anything,” a tearyeyed Mamata asks. “I don’t know whether he is dead or alive, our children ask me about his whereabouts every day.”
The children — five-year-old Samir and seven-year-old Asha — hover outside their hut under a thick canopy of deodar trees.
But the agony that has hit this village of 15 families is giving way to an unlikely bonhomie. Sitting next to Mamata and consoling her is Kesari Devi, the 62-year-old mother of Rajender Singh, another accused in the case who police say killed Suraj inside Kotkhai police station.
Kesari lives in a neighbouring hut and doesn’t believe her son killed either the girl or Suraj. “I have said it a million times and say it again: my son is innocent, the police are implicating him.”
The two women are united in fear and worry the police will come looking for them. Mamata says Suraj was a hard-working daily wage earner at a nearby orchard and was in mourning over the death of their five-yearold daughter Kaali last Diwali.
Mamata, who married Suraj seven years ago, says she visited him in custody soon after his arrest. “He did not say anything but I know he was being tortured… we are yet to come out of mourning. If my husband doesn’t return, how will I fend for my family?”
Police claim Suraj and others abducted the girl and then raped her, before killing her. But Kesari Devi says the police version of events doesn’t add up.
“Why would my son throw her (the girl’s) body in a ditch so close to our house if he had killed her ?” she asks.
Suraj was picked up along with five others on July 13 for questioning after pressure mounted on the state police.