India, July 24 -- "At around 4.30 pm, the crowd had swelled to 5000-6000 people," Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Jai Prakash said on Thursday, recounting the clashes at Jantar Mantar in which he was injured after allegedly being hit by a stone on the forehead. "I was hit by a stone on my head. I was bleeding when my colleagues removed me from the protest site and rushed me to RML Hospital. There is a minor fracture on my head. Further treatment is underway," Prakash stated, a day after the incident. The ACP was among two senior police officers who sustained injuries in alleged stone-pelting by protesters during Wednesday's demonstration near Sansad Marg, prompting Delhi Police to register an FIR and launch an investigation.
"For yesterday's incident of violence at Sansad Marg where two young ACPs have suffered injuries, an FIR has been filed under relevant sections and further investigation into the matter is underway," a senior police officer said. Recounting the incident, Jai Prakash, posted in Punjabi Bagh, said he had been deployed near Jantar Mantar from 7 am. "The protesters were raising slogans against the government and police. At around 4.30 pm, the crowd had swelled to around 5,000 to 6,000 people. Around 500 protesters were trying to create a nuisance when we intervened to maintain law and order," he said.
The officer said police personnel formed a human chain to stop protesters from advancing towards restricted areas, after which some protesters allegedly began pelting stones and hurling water bottles. Another police officer said an ACP posted in Connaught Place also suffered injuries during the stone-pelting while regulating the crowd and was rushed to RML Hospital. Recounting the incident, ACP Vivek Bhagat said he was on his way to report for his evening shift when he and his team were surrounded and overpowered by a crowd near the intersection of Tolstoy Marg and Sansad Marg. "I was on duty in Sector 1, Zone 1, which includes the main Jantar Mantar area. I was on duty during the day and also had an evening shift.
"I was going to report for my evening shift from the Regal Building in Connaught Place via Sansad Marg. At the red light near Tolstoy Marg and Sansad Marg, I had a staff of five or six personnel walking ahead of me. An ACP probationer, Rohit, and my operator, Navneet, were with me," he said. Bhagat said the group realised that water bottles were being thrown at police personnel walking ahead of them and that the crowd was hooting and raising slogans against the police. "As our police personnel moved back and forth, some of them moved forward to save themselves. One of them was overpowered by the crowd. Blood was coming out of his head and his entire face was covered in blood. I tried to intervene and rescue him," he alleged.
Bhagat said the situation remained manageable as long as he was standing, but he was eventually knocked to the ground as the crowd swelled. "Until I was standing, the situation was still somewhat under control. But the crowd was so large that they brought me down. They started beating me, kicking me and punching me. A lot of abuses were hurled at me and the police were specifically targeted and attacked," he alleged. Bhagat said senior officers, including the DCP, eventually reached the spot and rescued him from the crowd. He suffered head injuries, bruises and abrasions, besides bleeding from his nose. Two of his teeth were broken, while he also complained of stiffness in his jaw and pain in his knees and ankles. Police sources said multiple clashes broke out during the protest, forcing security personnel to fire tear gas to bring the situation under control. At least two ACPs and four other police personnel were injured in the violence, police sources said, adding that all the injured officers are in stable condition. The sources also alleged that several "anti-social" elements had entered the protest site and were involved in the violence despite repeated announcements by police urging demonstrators to maintain peace and not disturb law and order.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.