New Delhi: Delhi Police has claimed in its charge sheet on the communal violence at the national capital’s Jahangirpuri in April that while the Hanuman Jayanti procession led by Hindus had participants carrying firearms and other weapons, it was the attack by Muslims which led to the violence.
Indian Express has reported that in the charge sheet filed by the Crime Branch of the police at Rohini court on July 14, police claimed that members of the ‘Shobha Yatra’ on April 16 carried “firearms, swords and sticks”.
However, police have claimed that the march was “peaceful” until it reached the Jama Masjid at Jahangirpuri’s C Block.
“The gathered Muslim population confronted and attacked the procession with deadly weapons… on being attacked, the peaceful procession also responded and subsequently converted into unlawful assembly indulging into riot,” Express has quoted from the char sheet, of which the court has taken congnisance.
In May, a Delhi court had observed prima facie that Delhi Police had “utterly failed” in stopping this Hanuman Jayanti procession – for which no permission had been granted. Crucially, the court asked why local police officers were accompanying an illegal procession instead of stopping it.
Four days after the incident, bulldozers arrived in the area and began demolishing properties. The Supreme Court later that morning ordered status quo on the demolition drive. However, despite the top court’s order, the drive continued in Jahangirpuri, The Wire had reported.
This story was originally published in thewire.in . Read the full story here