Muharram violence: Delhi Police register 3 cases after unruly crowd clashed, pelted stones in Nangloi

The Delhi Police on Sunday said it has registered three cases after an unruly crowd taking part in Saturday's Muharram processions clashed with police and pelted them with stones in west Delhi's Nangloi.

Twelve people, including six police personnel, were injured while public property was damaged in the clashes.

The police on Saturday said, “Several ‘tazia’ processions were being carried out in the Nangloi area and around eight to 10 thousand people participated in those. One or two organisers on the main Rohtak Road became unruly and tried to deviate from the route that was mutually decided in the coordination meeting with the ‘taziadaran’.”

The first FIR was registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act at Nangloi police station on the complaint of Nangloi SHO Prabhu Dayal.

The incident in this case occurred at Surajmal Stadium, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Harendra Singh said.

The second FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by Nanag Ram, the law and order inspector at Nangloi police station, for an incident at Nangloi Chowk, Singh said.

The third FIR was registered on the complaint of Mukesh Kumar, a head constable, for an incident near the metro station at Nangloi. All three cases were registered on Sunday, Harendra Singh added.

In the first FIR, Dayal said several 'tazia' processions were scheduled in Nangloi on Saturday. There were meetings conducted with the organisers regarding the route and other issues. Apart from Nangloi police station of the Outer district, meetings were held with Prem Nagar and Aman Vihar police stations in Rohini district.

It was decided that the processions would proceed towards Surajmal Stadium via the metro station, take a u-turn from the Nangloi depot red light and return to their designated place, it said.

From 12 pm on Saturday, various processions were approaching from different areas following the predetermined route, the FIR stated.

Around 5 pm, some processions from the Prem Nagar and Aman Vihar areas of Rohini district crossed the Kirari Gate and reached the front of Surajmal Stadium via Rohtak Road. Upon reaching the site, instead of following the pre-decided route, some people tried to enter the stadium and started pushing and shoving, it added.

As there was no permission to enter the stadium, they were stopped. The Nangloi SHO, along with other officers and staff, tried to pacify them but they started fighting, it further said. The procession organisers stood on rickshaws and carts and started instigating the people to go inside the stadium. Some of these people had weapons such as swords, knives, sticks and iron rods, the FIR stated.

“On our refusal, the organisers and their supporters started pelting stones at the police. One of them, having a knife in his hand, attacked sub-inspector Parveen, on which Parveen grabbed the knife in order to save himself and received injury,” it added.

Singh said the police are checking CCTV footage from the area and analysing videos of the incidents that were widely circulated on social media on Saturday.

The Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) have submitted a memorandum to the police over Saturday's clashes during Muharram processions in west Delhi, officials said.

Slogans of ‘Desh ke gaddaro ko goli maro...’ (shoot the traitors) and ‘Jai Shri Ram’ were raised outside the Nangloi police station by the members of the two organisations after they submitted the memorandum, a senior official said on Sunday.

The sloganeering went on for around half an hour with the crowd subsequently dispersing, he added. 

(With inputs from agencies)