A Delhi court has observed that there was “utter failure” on part of the city police in stopping the Hanuman Jayanti rally that was carried out by Hindutva group without permission and had led to violence in the Jahangirpuri area in the second week of the April.
The court said that personnel of the Delhi Police had accompanied the illegal rally and that their complicity, if any, should be investigated, Live Law reported.
Additional Sessions Judge Gagandeep Singh made the observation while dismissing the bail plea of eight Muslim men – Imteyaz, Noor Alam, Sheikh Hamid, Ahmad Ali, Sheikh Hamid, SK Sahahada, Sheikh Zahir and Ahir – who have been arrested in connection with the violence.
The families and lawyers of the Muslim men said they were framed in the case.
On 16 April, three rallies were organised by the Bajrang Dal to commemorate the Hindu festival of Hanuman Jayanti in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri. Videos showed that participants in the rallies were armed with swords and tridents and some of them wielded guns and shouted “Jai Shri Ram” slogans and provocative slogans.
Violence broke out as the third rally passed a mosque and the saffron wearing people tried to vandalise it.
According to the police, Hindu and Muslim groups threw stones at each other.
At least 36 persons, including three juveniles, have been arrested for the violence. Majority of them are Muslims.
Police even charged the draconian National Security Act against five Muslim men. The act allows the police to detain a person for 12 months without trial.
Rights groups and Muslim bodies accused Delhi Police of arbitrarily detaining Muslims and not taking action against Hindutva militants who unleashed the violence in the capital city.
Three days after the violence in Jahangirpuri, the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation razed the entrance gate of a local mosque and several shops, homes and other structures in the neighbourhood, belonging to Muslims.
