Twenty-two people, including two city businessmen, have been booked on charges of assaulting a differently-abled volunteer at a bird care centre in Rakh Bagh and for cruelty against animals after a dispute over a structure at the park escalated on Wednesday, leaving several birds dead. The FIR in this case was registered at Division Number 8 police station on Thursday. The FIR names businessmen Heeralal Goyal and VK Gupta, besides 20 unidentified persons. It was registered on a complaint by Pakshi Sewa Samiti, president Ashok Thapar and members Darshan Lal Baweja, Vishal Jain and Vicky Kundra.
According to the complaint, Goyal, accompanied by his aides and a municipal corporation team, reached Rakh Bagh on Wednesday evening over the disputed structure constructed by the NGO. The complainants alleged that the group entered the facility where injured and sick birds are treated and damaged the cages, threw medicines and equipment around and ransacked it. When Sudama, a differently-abled volunteer, intervened and asked the group to stop, they assaulted him and pushed him to the ground, they alleged. Sudama suffered a broken tooth in the attack and was taken to the civil hospital for treatment. The NGO further alleged that several birds, including pigeons, died after their cages were damaged in the incident.
The episode followed a dispute that began earlier this month, when Goyal approached the municipal corporation alleging that the NGO had encroached a portion of Rakh Bagh by constructing a structure. On Wednesday, Goyal returned to the park with his aides and an MC team and civic officials partially demolished the alleged illegal construction. The NGO that treats injured and sick birds at Rakh Bagh and other locations in the city for nearly 20 to 25 years, refuted the civic body’s claim of encroachment. Thapar maintained that they had constructed a bench for visitors at the park, particularly for elderly people, with cages housing rescued birds placed around it.
Municipal corporation horticulture officer Kirpal Singh, who was present during the demolition, said Rakh Bagh was the property of the civic body and alleged that the NGO had constructed a wall measuring around 50 ft in length and 2 ft in height, restricting public access to a portion of the park.
The demolition was carried out on the orders of the additional commissioner, he added.
Questioning the timing of the civic action, he said, “How is it that suddenly the civic body realised the constriction was all illegal and needed to be demolished?” He further alleged that the demolition was retaliatory and said the NGO would take legal action against the civic body. The allegations could not be independently verified. The complainants further questioned the corporation’s intervention and whether the prescribed procedure had been followed.
Assistant commissioner of police Sarabjeet Singh Cheema said a case was registered and an investigation underway. Police teams are trying to identify and arrest the unidentified accused, he said. The accused have been booked under Sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 117(2) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 325 (mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming or rendering useless an animal), 190 (unlawful assembly with a common object) and 191(3) (rioting while armed with a deadly weapon) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, besides Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Activists and local residents condemned the alleged assault and sought action against those responsible.