Quarrel among children takes ‘communal’ colour in Mehrauli
SOUTH DELHI RSS, BJP workers protest against police, 4 cops sent to district lines; other group alleges victimisation
Four policemen have been taken off duty from Mehrauli police station and have to report to district lines after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP workers protested outside the police station following a quarrel between two groups of children which threatened to break the communal fabric of the neighbourhood.
The problem began around 6pm on Saturday, when two groups of children got into a fight while playing in a DDA park that also serves as the assembling point of the local RSS Shakha members.
According to police sources, the quarrel turned violent when the parents of the children entered the scene.
Ravi (name changed to protect the identity of children), the father of two of the quarrelling children was a Shakha member, said Aarti Singh, BJP councillor in Mehrauli.
“Supporters of both groups called their people and clashed with each other, leaving some injured,” said the source.
However, Ravi told the police in his statement that his sons were being inappropriately touched by Omar (name changed), the father of a Muslim child in the park.
Ravi alleged that when he confronted Omar, the latter called his men and beat him up.
Omar, on the other hand, alleged that Ravi and his friends from the RSS thrashed him following a quarrel between their children.
When Ravi visited the local police station and demanded that Omar and his friends be booked, the local police allegedly refused to act. So, he sought help of the BJP councillor and her husband Gajendra Yadav, BJP Delhi secretary.
“When we tried to seek an appointment with the SHO to demand action against the assailants, his men beat us up. When we tried to record the video, the police broke our phone,” alleged Yadav. A video clip of the incident shows a policeman forcibly stopping the video recording.
The police, however, claimed that Yadav, his wife, the complainants and their supporters demanded immediate arrest of Omar and his friends. “We insisted that they first file a written complaint, but they refused and threatened us about their contacts,” said a police officer.
In any case, over the next two hours, a large group of BJP and RSS workers gathered outside the police station and demanded action against the policemen. Joined by Yadav, Aarti and some local RSS leaders, the protesters camped outside the police station through the night.
On Sunday, Delhi BJP President, Manoj Tiwari, was also seen with the protesters. “He (Tiwari) went to enquire about the condition of the protesting BJP workers,” said one of his close aides.
This had its impact as action was ordered against four policemen on Sunday.
“The SHO and three other policemen have been asked to report to district lines pending an inquiry into the allegations,” said Chinmoy Biswal, additional DCP (south). An FIR on Ravi’s statement too was subsequently registered.
Omar’s father alleged that the action against the policemen was taken under pressure from politicians. “We are being unfairly targeted because the other side has strong political connections and we are minorities,” he alleged, as scores of his relatives and friends gathered outside the Mehrauli police station late on Sunday.
When we tried to seek an appointment with the SHO to demand action against the assailants, his men beat us up. When we tried to record the video, the police broke our phone.