Delhi’s Nangloi violence: 3 cases lodged, police scan CCTV

The cases were registered based on statements of police officers and some of the suspects were identified based on CCTV footage, police said.

The Delhi Police on Sunday registered three cases in connection with the violence on Saturday evening during a Muharram procession in Nangloi area of west Delhi, in which over a dozen people including six police personnel suffered injuries.

On Saturday evening, some people part of the Muharram procession allegedly pelted stones and clashed with the police after they were stopped from deviating from the route prescribed and tried to enter Surajmal Stadium (AFP)

The cases were registered based on statements of police officers and some of the suspects were identified based on CCTV footage, police said.

According to the police, the first case has been registered at Surajmal Stadium on the complaint of inspector Prabhu Dayal, the station house officer (SHO) of Nangloi police station.

“This FIR has been lodged under various sections for rioting, unlawful assembly, obstructing public servants in the discharge of their duties, and mischief causing damage to the public properties. The second FIR was also registered under similar sections, based on a complaint given by Nanag Ram, inspector, law and order, Nangloi police station). The place of the incident for this case was registered as Nangloi Chowk,” said Harendra K Singh, the deputy commissioner of police (outer).

DCP Singh added that the third FIR was registered on the complaint of head constable Mukesh Kumar and the place of the incident was near Nangloi Metro station.

“We’ve already started the investigation and have identified some of the suspects. We are also analysing the CCTV footage of the area, which went viral on Saturday. Several teams have been constituted to identify the perpetrators and initiate legal action against them. At present, the situation is normal in the area,” Singh said.

On Saturday evening, some people part of the Muharram procession allegedly pelted stones and clashed with the police after they were stopped from deviating from the route prescribed and tried to enter Surajmal Stadium, police said, adding that several people, including six police personnel and six volunteers including five women, were injured and a few vehicles were damaged. According to the police, some organisers tried to deviate from their route which was mutually decided in the coordination meeting.

“We tried our best to convince them to stick to their route and proceed to the designated locations. But a few people in the procession became unruly and started instigating the public and resorted to stone pelting. To ensure the safety and security of passersby, including women, children, and motorists, the mob was dispersed by police with mild use of lathicharge. The tazia processions were subsequently conducted peacefully in the area as per customs and religious practices,” the DCP added.

After the incident on Saturday, hundreds of police personnel were deployed in and around the area to maintain law and order and ensure that no further untoward incident took place and to ensure that the incident did not snowball into communal violence, senior police officers had said on Saturday.