Jahangirpuri violence: 'Utter failure' on part of Delhi police, says court

Rapid Action Force personnel keep vigil after clashes broke out between two communities during a Hanuman Jayanti procession. File Pic/AFP

A Delhi court has observed that there was "utter failure" on the part of Delhi Police in stopping the unauthorised Hanuman Jayanti procession in Jahangirpuri last month that triggered communal clashes in the locality.

The court made the observation while rejecting a clutch of bail pleas, and said that the issue seems to have been simply brushed aside by senior officers, and complicity, if any, of police personnel needs to be investigated. "The issue seems to have been simply brushed aside by the senior officers.

The liability on the part of the concerned officials needs to be fixed so that in future no such incident takes place and the police is not complacent in preventing the illegal activities.

Their complicity , if any, also needs to be investigated," Additional Sessions Judge Gagandeep Singh said. The court directed that a copy of the order, passed on May 7, be sent to the Commissioner of Police for information and remedial compliance. "It is fairly admitted" on behalf of the State that the last procession which was passing through, during which the unfortunate riots took place, was illegal having no prior permission from police," the judge said.

The court said that the sequence of events that took place on Hanuman Jayanti on April 16 and role of the local administration in preventing the incident and maintaining law and order needed to be seen. The contents of the FIR itself show that the local staff of the police station in Jahangirpuri, as well as other officials were "accompanying the said illegal procession" on its route instead of stopping it.

"It appears that local police, instead of performing their duty in stopping the said illegal procession in the beginning itself and dispersing the crowd, was accompanying them to the entire route which later on led to unfortunate riots between the two communities," the judge said.

The court was hearing the bail applications, that claimed that the accused had been falsely implicated and were not present at the spot on the day of the incident. While dismissing the bail pleas, the court also noted that material investigation in the case is still underway and several offenders who were allegedly involved in riots are yet to be apprehended.

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