By IANS,
New Delhi : Police fired in the air to disperse a mob of around 500 people which pelted stones, ransacked a police station and vandalized two vehicles in the national capital Thursday demanding the arrest of the key accused in the murder of a 24-year-old man, officials said.
A mob blocked vehicular movement in the Bhajanpura area of northeast Delhi demanding the arrest of two people identified as Rohtash and Chintu for the murder of Arif alias Kallu, who ran a restaurant in the same area.
Kallu was beaten to death Saturday in the nearby Khajuri Khas area. The police said Arif was having an affair with a Hindu girl.
“The girl’s family had serious objections to her affair. So they shifted their house from Bhajanpura to Khajuri Khas. On Saturday they called Arif and took him with them on the pretext of taking his help in house shifting,” Taquir Ahmed, the victim’s father told reporters here.
“My son was then beaten to death by the girl’s family. And to mislead investigations, they told police that my son was trying to burgle their house. They said my son was caught by the people and lynched,” Ahmed added.
The police have arrested the girl’s mother and two men in the case. But the two main accused Rohtash and Chintu are still at large.
“Police are trying to save the culprits behind the murder,” a protester said.
Ahmed said they were protesting in the area when some policemen asked few of them to come to the police station.
“The policemen said senior policemen were present in the police station and we can speak to them. Inside the police station, Additional Deputy Police Commissioner M.D. Gothwal threw a glass at us,” he said.
“A man from our group was hit by the glass and started bleeding. After this people got agitated and started the protest and were again manhandled by the police,” he added.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) S.S. Yadav said about 500 people pelted stones and damaged vehicles.
The mob went on a rampage and damaged the official car of Gothwal and another police vehicle. Police resorted to a baton-charge and hurled tear shells to disperse the mob that raised slogans against Delhi Police and blocked the traffic in the area. Three people were injured in the protest. The police, however, denied any such thing.
“We had to fire in the air to disperse the violent crowd. Someone from the protesters also opened fire using a country-made fire-arm. We have recovered a country made shell from the protest site,” Yadav said.
Police sources claimed that the mob was led by Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) north-east Delhi candidate Haji Dilshad.