Ahir stir leads to traffic snarls
GURUGRAM: Hundreds of members from the Ahir community led by the Sanyukt Ahir Regiment Morcha, which is spearheading the demand for a separate regiment for the Yadavs in the Indian Army, poured onto the streets on Sunday, blocked traffic and vandalised a car on a service lane of NH-48 near Hero Honda Chowk.
The protestors took out a rally from Kherki Daula to Iffco chowk and disrupted traffic movement on the way back. More than 1,200 police personnel were deployed at all traffic diversion routes and NH-48 from 7am to 7pm to manage the law and order situation and streamline vehicular movement.
Commuters faced a lot of difficulties throughout the day at several stretches connecting to NH-48. A number of commuters were desperate, looking for public transport. Some people also walked with their luggage in the absence of buses and autos.
Two families, who were travelling from Jaipur to Delhi airport, missed their flight as they got stuck in traffic. Karan Singh, a marble businessman from Jaipur in Rajasthan, said he planned a trip to Coorg along with his wife and another couple. “We were not aware of the protest. We were running a bit late but then we got stuck for over an hour in traffic and missed our flight,” he said.
Ravinder Kumar Tomar, DCP (traffic), said congestion was reported from the IMT Manesar area, Rampura crossing and other areas connecting to NH-48. “Our teams were deployed at all locations and diversions to help commuters. The vehicle flow was smooth on all the routes.”
Meanwhile, a resident of DLF Phase 3, who was returning home around 4.30pm on Sunday, alleged the protestors stood in front of her car and intercepted her way. When she requested them to move, they started shouting slogans and smashed her car in the service lane near Rajiv Chowk. Based on the woman‘s complaint, a case was registered against unidentified people under relevant sections of the IPC at Shivaji Nagar police station on Sunday.
Deepak Saharan, DCP (west), said congestion was reported from NH-48 but not for very long. “Despite issuing an advisory, the commuters did not use the diversions and took the main carriageway and got stuck. The protestors blocked the vehicles forcefully and were not letting them pass but our teams controlled the situation and decongested the stretch,” he said.
Saharan said they are conducting an investigation and will arrest the suspects, who allegedly smashed the window glass of the woman’s car.
Vinod Numberdar, a member of Sanyukt Ahir Regiment Morcha, said they peacefully took out a rally and returned to their base at Kherki Daula and are not aware of the suspects who indulged in violent activities. “We are suspecting that hooligans intentionally entered our rally... We are trying to identify them from pictures shared on the social media groups; none of them are members of our morcha. We will continue to press our demand for a separate Ahir regiment in the Indian army,” said Numberdar.
Sube Singh Bohra, a member of the morcha, said hundreds of members from south Haryana and other states may take out another rally next month.