Delhi Police register case in Ashok Tanwar assault case

The Delhi police have registered a case under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (prevention of atrocities) Act in the case of assault on Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar.

The attack was allegedly carried out by supporters of former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, about four months ago and Tanwar was hurt in it.

The first information report (FIR) was registered by the Delhi Police at Tilak Marg police station on Sunday.

This was done following directions of the National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC), on the complaint of one of Tanwar’s supporter, Kamaljeet, a resident of Jhajjar.

Though Hooda and his son Deepender Hooda (who is also an MP) have not been named as accused in the FIR, the complainant has accused them of instigating and provoking their supporters to assault him and others.

Besides this, they have also been accused of using derogatory language targeting their caste.

The FIR says that Kamaljeet and others, including Tanwar, were brutally assaulted by the supporters of Hooda and his son on October 6, 2016, when they were raising slogans in praise of Rahul Gandhi, Tanwar and others. He has named Satish Rathi, Satyawan Pehlwan, Virender Rao, Sunda, Wazir Singh and Kala among about 40 persons who allegedly assaulted him and others.

However, when contacted, Hooda said that the complaint is a “bunch of lies” and that the charges are “baseless”. The truth will come out after the investigation, he added.

Meanwhile, speaking to Hindustan Times Tanwar said that the assault on him and his supporters was an unfortunate incident, but what is more unfortunate is the “biased treatment” by the Delhi police and doctors against him and his supporters.

“Our fight is for justice. The FIR has been registered after four months of the incident. We hope speedy justice and the guilty to be put behind bars,’’ he said.

The state government should at least suspend Rathi, the personal security officer of Hooda, who being a state government employee is also among the accused, he added.

FIR WAS REGISTERED AFTER DIRECTIONS OF THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCHEDULE CASTES