The District Administration on Wednesday slapped criminal cases against all those involved in violence during the anti-encroachment drive in Shorkha village. Police registered case of rioting, arson, injuring and preventing public servants while on duty, criminal conspiracy and attempt to murder under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered at Sector-49 Police Station against unknown persons and the police are trying to identify those who were part of the mob that attacked area the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and the police team while they were trying to remove illegal structures following an order from the Allahabad High Court.
The police also claimed to identify at least 15 hooligans and said that they will be brought to the book and the process to identify the hoodlums was going on. However, the situation in the village was reported to be normal on Wednesday.
Hundreds of residents in Sorkha Village of Noida went on rampage on Tuesday morning while protesting against the anti-encroachment drive by the local administration. SDM Dadri area, Rajesh Yadav and nearly a dozen policemen — including three Station Officers (SOs) — were injured when a team had gone to remove the encroachment over the Gram Sabha land.
The villagers pelted stone at the police party and torched their vehicles. In retaliation, police also lathi-charged the mob and fired bullets in the air in which several villagers were reported to be injured.
The situation was brought under control after deployment of huge police force, including Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), in the village. Meanwhile, the villagers have constituted a 25-member committee to discuss the issue of encroachment with the DM.
Though, the villagers do not want to budge from the land and claim to be the owner of it, the officers say that they have to abide by the High Court’s order and villagers can approach the apex court, if they feel so. According to a senior official of the Noida Police, they are taking action against those who were involved in violence on Tuesday.
They have constituted several teams to apprehend the offenders and raids were being conducted across the region. They are also going through the video footages of several news channels so they could be identified.
“We have booked 150 unidentified people and are searching them who have escaped from their places. We are taking all possible steps to arrest them,” said Yogesh Singh, Superintendent of Police (City).