By Arun Pratap Singh
Roorkee, 16 Jul: Roorkee Police have arrested five accused from Manglaur for causing disturbances and throwing stones at shops and buildings during the victory procession of newly elected Congress MLA Qazi Nizamuddin on Sunday night. The Police claim that while five have been arrested, the search is on for more miscreants.
It may be recalled that after the victory of Qazi Nizamuddin in the Manglaur Assembly bypoll, his supporters took out a procession without the permission of the police late on Sunday night. During the procession, stones were pelted on people’s houses and allegedly some threats were also issued, even as the police mostly remained a mute spectator. At the juncture when the police force tried to meekly resist, the personnel were pushed back by the supporters present in the procession. In fact, according to some eyewitnesses, the police personnel appeared to be totally helpless and were seen folding their hands before Qazi Nizamuddin asking him to calm down his supporters. Probably, despite this riot and ruckus, the issue would have been forgotten with police doing nothing if a video recording of the stoning and scuffle with the policemen had not gone viral on social media. Once the video went viral, the police had to register a case and started searching for the accused, seen and identified through the video.
Incidentally, Manglaur, despite having a large population of a minority community, has remained largely peaceful and harmonious in the past. However, some recent incidents should become a cause of worry for the district and the state administrations.
It may be recalled that even on the day of polling on 10 July, there was ruckus in Libbarheri village and some minor clashes in other places within the constituency. In fact, the Congress alleges that eight rounds of bullets were also fired on polling day, which was strongly denied by the Haridwar Police. This apart, even on Saturday, 13 July, some people had opened fire outside the house of BJP leader Sudhir Chaudhary in Libbarhedi village. A meeting was held on Sunday by the people aggrieved by the firing incident and attempts were made from both the sides to broker peace. However, the attempts clearly did not succeed as there was ruckus on Sunday evening when some people participating in the Victory procession pelted stones at houses and shops and also allegedly issued threats. The police did not appear to take the incident seriously and it was only when the video was made viral on social media allegedly by some BJP supporters that it registered a case and also arrested a handful of the accused. The number of those involved in the incident is obviously much higher. After the firing outside the house of BJP leader Sudhir Chaudhary on Saturday, the police personnel were present in the meeting held on Sunday afternoon. However, the police still did not take any action against the culprits and this emboldened the miscreants when this stone pelting incident occurred on Sunday evening, forcing the police to take action.
Eye-witnesses during the victory procession claim that it was taken out without due permission from the administration.
The eyewitnesses also claimed that Qazi Nizamuddin tried to calm down the crowd by issuing appeals for peace, but the crowd did not listen. Tension prevailed in the area regarding this matter till late night on Sunday and even on Monday. The people whose houses were pelted with stones also reached Manglaur Police Station at night on Sunday and submitted a written complaint to the police and demanded action against the miscreants. This incident has enraged the locals and they apprehend greater frequency of such incidents if the administration and the police remain oblivious to the changing situation within the constituency. On the other hand, in their defence, the local police claim that the victory procession was taken out without any prior permission or intimation and therefore they were not fully prepared to handle any mischief. Had the procession been taken out when the shops were open, the incident could have snowballed into a major fight. It is alleged in the complaint that the accused have also issued threats of death against the local residents.
