Paramilitary Force personnel patrol during Eid-al-Fitr, at Jahangirpuri in New Delhi, Tuesday, May 3, 2022.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has alleged that ‘innocent Hindus’ are being framed by Delhi in the Jahangirpuri violence case. VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal demanded from Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana to order a probe to identify ‘some officers’ who are trying to implicate ‘innocent Hindus’ and take action against them.
He claimed that the organizers of a Hanuman Jayanti procession that was taken out in northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri recently had given prior intimation about their program to the local police stations but after clashes took place, police took an about turn and said no permission was given to the event.
“On April 15, we had intimated two local police stations in writing. We had also sent a list of shobhayatras (processes) that were to be taken out at 20 other locations in the city to the police commissioner through WhatsApp,” he said.
“But we did not get any information from the police about the cancellation of these procedures, except one that was scheduled to be taken out at Shahdara on April 17 (a day after the Jahangirpuri violence),” Bansal said, adding, “We have the records and we can produce those before the court, if asked.”
The VHP leader alleged that the violence broke out at Jahangirpuri during the Hanuman Jayanti procession on April 16 due to the “inaction of the police” and “some police officers are now trying to shift their sin of inaction on others”.
“They are also misleading the court by changing their statements. There is a conspiracy to implicate innocent Hindus in the case,” he said while asserting that “the VHP will not tolerate it”.
“The Police Commissioner must order a probe to identify these officers who are adamant on tarnishing his image and that of the Delhi Police and oust them from the force,” Bansal said.
Meanwhile, a Delhi court has observed that there was “utter failure” on the part of the Delhi Police in stopping the unauthorized 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 court said that the sequence of events that took place on Hanuman Jayanti on April 16 and the role of the local administration in preventing the incident and maintaining law and order needed to be seen.
With PTI Inputs
READ MORE: Jahangirpuri violence: ‘Utter failure’ on part of Delhi police, says court
,