Four more kanwariyas arrested for Moti Nagar violence

The kanwariyas had attacked an i10 car with sticks and stones on August 7, smashing its windscreen before turning it over on the road main road.

The Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested four more kanwariyas and apprehended four juveniles for the Moti Nagar violence in which a group, believed to be kanwariyas, vandalised a car after the vehicle allegedly hit one of them. The total number of arrests in the case is now six, police said.

A large number of kanwariyas move down a flyover. (Kaushalendra/HT Photo)

The accused were identified as 19-year-old Aman Kumar , a painter from Najafgarh, Vishal Singh (20), a factory worker from Nikhil Vihar, Jogesh (19), a roadside vendor from Dwarka, Jitender Das (19), a BA final-year student, Sachin Kumar (19) and an employee of a footwear company. Rahul Billa, an unemployed man with a crime record, was arrested last week, two days after the violence.

Apart from the six men, police have also apprehended four juveniles who were allegedly involved in the violence. While three of them are students of class 11 and 12, one is a school drop-out, police said.

On August 7, a group of kanwarias had turned violent on a busy road in Moti Nagar. The men attacked an i10 car with sticks and stones, smashing its windscreen before turning it over on the road main road, triggering a massive jam.

According to senior officers, the main accused, Aman Kumar, instigated the violence after he was reportedly hit by the car and his pot of Gangajal was spilled. He then provoked his fellow kanwariyas to attack the car, police said.

While the police have arrested Rahul Billa on the second day of the violence, the others were on the run. On Monday night, Jogesh was arrested from Dwarka and he led the police to the others.

Deputy commissioner of police (west) Vijay Kumar said Billa was not an associate of the group. Billa was arrested but he could not lead us to the others, police said.

It was following stringent surveillance and questioning of at least 1,000 people from the area that police teams managed to zero down on Jogesh.

“We analysed CCTV footage from the spot up to Najafgarh. Pictures of the suspects were circulated and door-to-door searches were conducted. Amid the probe, a man who was seen hitting the car with a bat, wearing a black T-shirt, was identified as Jogesh while another in a white shirt was identified as Vishal, who is from a slum cluster in Dwarka,” the DCP said.

“At the duo’s instance, we arrested Sachin from Nikhil Vihar, behind a DTC depot. During questioning, Sachin disclosed that he was instigated by Aman Kumar, one of his friends, who lives in a Najafgarh. Raids were conducted and Jitender and Aman were arrested. Four juveniles, whom the accused named as their accomplices, were also apprehended,” the officer said.