By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 29 Dec: Police have registered three separate cases following violent protests against the forest land survey in Rishikesh over the weekend. The demonstrators had blocked highways and railway tracks and even pelted stones at police personnel, while disrupting public transport. This has prompted strong legal action by the authorities.
It may be recalled that the unrest had begun on Saturday when the protesters obstructed the National Highway at Shyampur Bypass in Amitgram. According to a complaint filed by SSI Manwar Singh Negi, Sector-2 In-charge, the blockade lasted from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. while he was facilitating the forest land measurement in line with the Supreme Court orders. The Police have named Mohan Singh Aswal, Virendra Ramola, Vinod Nath, Himanshu Panwar, Lalmani Raturi, Nirmala Uniyal, Usha Chauhan and Sachin Rawat, along with 218 unidentified men and women, in the case.
In another complaint, a female Forest Department Ranger has alleged that she was molested while conducting the survey in Gumaniwala on 27 December. She stated that unidentified persons had obstructed the work, shoved and assaulted the team, verbally abused them and grabbed her uniform. The Rishikesh Kotwali Police have registered a case against unidentified suspects and are working to identify the accused.
The third case was lodged by Inspector Kailash Chandra Bhatt of Kotwali Rishikesh regarding yesterday’s incident at the Mansa Devi railway crossing. The charges include rioting with common intent, obstructing the National Highway and railway tracks, hindering government work and stone-pelting at the police force with intent to kill. Eight people have been named, including Sitaram Koti, Lalmani Raturi, Yogesh Dimri, Vikas Semwal, Jahangir Alam, Ganga Prasad, Rajendra Gairola and Pooja Pokhriyal, along with 8 to 10 unidentified persons.
SP Rural Jaya Baluni has confirmed that the police have registered the cases based on the complaints and investigations are underway.
It may be recalled that the protests were triggered by the directives issued under Supreme Court orders to remove encroachments from Forest Department land in Rishikesh. Joint teams of the police, Forest Department and administration were carrying out the anti-encroachment drive on yesterday when the affected residents staged demonstrations by blocking roads and the rail routes. Despite repeated appeals by the police to vacate peacefully, the protesters grew aggressive.
The railway line was blocked, delaying six trains and inconveniencing thousands of passengers. Not only this, stones were also pelted at the officials, injuring several people, while a dharna brought road traffic to a standstill.
Given the seriousness of the situation, the SSP visited the site and directed the officials to clear the highway and railway tracks and later led a flag march in the Rishikesh Shyampur area with reinforcements called in from Dehradun and neighbouring districts.
Police have, however, denied allegations of a lathi-charge circulating on social media, clarifying that claims of force being used before stone-pelting are misleading and baseless. The officials stated that while police were attempting to convince protesters to vacate the tracks for stranded passengers, the crowd retaliated with violence. The authorities are identifying those responsible for spreading false information and have warned that cases will be registered against them, with social media platforms being closely monitored.
Dehradun SSP Ajai Singh has appealed to the public, emphasising that the survey is being conducted by the Forest Department in line with the Supreme Court orders. Investigations suggest that certain people may have fraudulently sold government forest land to unsuspecting buyers by misrepresenting it as private property. The SSP urged the victims of such fraud to lodge complaints with the police, assuring strict legal action against offenders.
