Delhi Police on Wednesday said five people have been arrested in connection with the stone pelting incident that took place near Faiz-e-Ilahi Mosque at Turkman Gate, where the demolition drive was carried out by the MCD.
According to an official statement by Delhi Police, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) launched a drive to remove encroachments in the encroached area around Faiz-e-Ilahi Mosque located at Turkman Gate near Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan following a High Court order on the morning of January 7.
Before the demolition operation, several coordination meetings were held with Aman Committee members and other local stakeholders to maintain peace and prevent any untoward incident. According to Central Range Joint Commissioner of Police Madhur Verma, all possible preventive and confidence-building measures were taken.
But soon after the encroachment removal operation began, around 25-30 people threw stones at the police and MCD officials, who had reached Turkman Gate with JCB machines to demolish the illegal encroachment as per the court order.
As a result, five policemen suffered minor injuries in the incident. According to Central District Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Nidhin Valsan, the policemen were treated at a nearby hospital.
This morning the police registered an FIR against unidentified persons in a stone pelting incident in which a police party was attacked during an official operation in the area.
Police officials said further legal action would be taken after the identification process is completed and sufficient evidence is collected.
DCP Nidhin Valsan said, the action started around 1 am. MCD removed encroachment on the encroached land as per the order of the High Court. Stones were thrown at the police at night. We used minimum force to retaliate. Overall, the process went smoothly. Four to five police officers suffered minor injuries. As soon as we get CCTV, ground and body camera footage, we will identify the culprits and take legal action against them.”
Meanwhile, Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh defended the demolition drive being carried out by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi near Turkman Gate, saying all illegal structures will be removed in line with the Clean Delhi plan.
Speaking on the stone pelting incident that took place during the demolition drive, Singh stressed that the incident occurred due to the spread of misinformation and rumors among the public.
Singh told ANI, “MCD followed the court order. There was illegal encroachment on Ramlila Maidan, where a banquet hall was running. All illegal structures will be removed. We talk about public welfare, while some religious people try to mislead the public and spread rumours, which leads to such incidents (stone pelting). Such incidents will have no impact on us as we want clean Delhi.”