The violence that occurred during Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s demolition drive near the Faiz-e-Ilahi mosque in Turkman Gate broke out in the early hours of Wednesday, after a group of protestors assembled at the spot, defied police instructions and engaged in stone-pelting at them, according to the FIR lodged by a police constable stationed in the area.
The copy of FIR, accessed by Media, documents the sequence of events, right from police barricading of the encroached land to provocative slogans by a dozen of locals and then hurling of stones at the policemen, even as latter tried to reason with them that the demolition drive was limited to illegal constructions and freeing of illegally occupied government land and there would no harm to the adjoining mosque.
According to the FIR, the unrest at 12.40 a.m. when the policemen started barricading the area. A group of 30-35 people gathered at the spot and started shouting slogans and hindering the cops from putting blockade.
The unruly elements were asked not to assemble at the spot as Section 163 (applied in cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was in place, and they should disperse quickly, but the crowd instead of relenting, became more aggressive, escalated sloganeering and started pelting stones at the police personnel.
Videos of stone-pelting at police personnel, damaging barricades by the mob, surfaced on social media, drawing anger from a section of netizens over the direct assault on the policemen on duty.
“One of the protestors snatched the loud-hailer and broke it,” says the complainant in the FIR.
“They not only obstructed and attacked the policemen on duty but also broke the loudspeaker, barricades and attacked policemen with stones,” it added.
A couple of policemen, including the SHO, were injured in the attack and were subsequently admitted to LNJP hospital.
It was after the additional forces were called in that the violent protestors were pushed back and illegal structures surrounding the religious structure were razed.
The FIR has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 221 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 121 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 191 (rioting), 223 (A) (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 3(5) (joint liability) and provisions of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.
The five accused named in the FIR have been identified as Mohd Shahawaz, Mohd Aarib, Mohd Kasif, Mohd Adnan and Mohd Kaif – all said to be residents of the Chandni Mahal area.
