Land dispute puts Gokulpuri under siege-like situation

A fight over a land area caused a siege-like situation in northeast Delhi's Gokulpuri region on Sunday morning. Scores of Delhi Police personnel had to be deployed to bring the law and order under control there.

A fight over a land area caused a siege-like situation in northeast Delhi's Gokulpuri region on Sunday morning. Scores of Delhi Police personnel had to be deployed to bring the law and order under control there.

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The incident took place in Ganga Vihar at around 11 a.m. after which eight persons, including Rashtravadi Shiv Sena chief Jai Bhagwan Goyal, were detained.

According to the police, the detained persons were allegedly trying to demolish a boundary wall around the land and wanted to build a temple there.

The police said that Goyal, along with around 50-60 of his supporters forcibly entered the land in dispute and got into a scuffle with local residents over it. The land-owner, in 2008, "won a legal battle to get a boundary wall built around his property. It is a 3,500 square yard plot. Goyal and his men tried to break the wall. The whole thing got out of hand, as almost the entire area got into the fight," said a senior police officer on the condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The police said that Goyal and his men wanted to conduct jalabhishek. Goyal's associates allegedly damaged the plot caretaker's vehicle, too. Goyal, however, could not be contacted after repeated attempts.

When the fight broke out, the police were immediately called. However, they were outnumbered. "People pelted stones at the police. They set fires and vandalised as many as eight cars. Reserve police was immediately sent to the spot. The police had to resort to lathi charge," the officer said.

Even after reinforcements were called, it took over three hours to bring the situation under control.

The police have registered a case of rioting and trespass. Further investigations are on.