By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 11 Dec: A delegation led by Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Vice President (Organisation), Mathura Dutt Joshi today called on Director General of Police (DGP) Deepam Seth and submitted a memorandum signed by State Congress Committee President Karan Mahara. The memorandum is related to the incident that occurred at the Police Lines in Dehradun on 4 December, where some Congress leaders had a scuffle with media persons present at the Police Lines for a cricket match organised by the Uttaranchal Press Club.
While submitting the memorandum, Joshi criticised the police administration, holding it responsible for the incident. Joshi reminded that the detainees of mass arrests during protests are typically taken to the police lines and seated along the sports ground before completing the formalities and then released. However, on 4 December, the Congress members arrested during the Youth Congress protest were taken to the police lines without being told that a media event was ongoing at the location, he claimed. Neither the Congress workers nor the journalists were aware of each other’s presence, leading to confusion and misunderstanding. Joshi accused the police of failing to manage the situation, which he claimed, resulted in the incident.
The Congress delegation alleged that the misunderstanding arose due to police negligence and suggested that a deliberate conspiracy could not be ruled out. They pointed out that no police officers or personnel were present at the scene during the incident. Furthermore, despite the pre-scheduled media event, no arrangements were made to accommodate the Congress workers at an alternative location. Joshi described this as a deliberate and unfortunate lapse by the police administration.
The delegation urged the DGP to initiate a high-level investigation into the incident and to take disciplinary action against the police personnel responsible for the “mismanagement”. They stressed on the need for stringent measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
In addition to addressing the specific incident, the delegation also raised concerns about broader issues in the state, including cases of rapes, murders, atrocities against women, thefts, robberies, drug-related crimes, road accidents, and illegal liquor distribution in the state. They appealed for stricter enforcement of law and order to address these issues. The delegation also highlighted the activities of anti-social elements tarnishing the reputation of “Devbhoomi” and urged the police to identify and punish such individuals.
The delegation included prominent Congress leaders such as State Congress Committee Vice President (Organisation) Mathura Dutt Joshi, General Secretary Naveen Joshi, Amarjit Singh, State Spokesperson Sheeshpal Singh Bisht, and Mahanagar Congress Chief Dr Jaswinder Singh Gogi, among others.
