After a day of heightened communal tensions in Ghaziabad’s Brij Vihar, following rioting and arson by a group of locals and members of a right-wing organisation over the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl on Wednesday, the Ghaziabad police on Friday booked about 250 unidentified protesters for rioting, damaging property and torching vehicles and shops in the locality.
Although a 21-year-old scrap dealer has been arrested on charges of raping the minor, the mob unleashed violence and arson seeking the conversion of the alleged case of rape into one of gang-rape by four men, the Ghaziabad police said.
The FIR against the rioters was registered suo motu at Link Road police station late Thursday night against 200-250 unidentified protesters, senior officers said. They have been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 191(2) (rioting), 191(3) (use of force or violence by an unlawful assembly), 326(g) (mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance, etc) and 121(1) (voluntarily causing hurt) and also under the Criminal Law Amendment Act.
“Those involved in rioting will be identified through videos and CCTV footage. So far, no arrest has been made as the rioters are only being identified. We are also investigating how people gathered in large numbers in Brij Vihar on Thursday. The police deployment will remain in the area until further orders,” said Nimish Patil, deputy commissioner of police, trans-Hindon.
The violence unfolded after girl’s family on late Wednesday evening alleged that she was raped by one of her Muslim neighbours. They alleged that he entered their house and fed her some sedative to make her fall unconscious before beating her and raping her, said police, quoting the family’s complaint.
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