Hindu Raksha Dal activists on Wednesday attacked the Aam Aadmi Party office in Ghaziabad with bricks and stones protesting against party leader Prashant Bhushan’s remarks on referendum in Kashmir. Glass doors and windowpanes were broken in the attack.
The activists had first gone to Kejriwal’s residence at Girnar Apartment, which is just a kilometre away from the party office. “At around 11 am, there were nearly five SUVs who first went to Kejriwal’s residence. But they did not get down from the vehicles as Delhi Police personnel were present there. They then headed towards the party office,” said Renu Taneja, a witness present at the spot at the time of incident.
The protesters who had red flags stopped their vehicles a few metres ahead of the office. They then barged in the office shouting slogans, vandalised the office, ransacked its furniture, broke glass panes and a wash basin fitted at the entrance of the office. The protesters, some of who were wearing red-coloured head gear, tried to take possession of the first floor portion of the office but failed since the AAP volunteers shut the main gate from inside due to which the intruders could neither get access through staircases nor could scale wall. The area falls under Indirapuram police station of Ghaziabad city.
“We phoned the Ghaziabad police immediately and told them about the incident. But the police took 25 minutes to reach the spot despite the fact that the Kaushambi police post is merely 500 metres away from the AAP office. By the time, the miscreants fled the spot,” said Poonam, who is credited to save the office by her prompt action of bolting the main gate from inside.
“The Delhi Police responded quicker then Ghaziabad police although we first informed the Ghaziabad police as it came under their jurisdiction. Since we could not get through the Ghaziabad police, our office staff attempted to contact the Delhi police and succeeded to inform them after which they flashed the message,” she said.
“When the goons found that the gate was bolted from inside, they started breaking office furniture and fixtures of the office outside in the veranda. Some of then tried to scale the wall to enter first floor portion of the office but could not,” said lokesh Dhaswan, another office attendant.
Meanwhile, national convenor of Hindu Raksha Dal Bhupender Tomar, alias Pinky Choudhary, said, “We staged a protest against AAP’s stand on Kashmir. AAP leader Prashant Bhushan’s remark on Kashmir are very sad for Hindus due to which we protested outside his party office.”
Police said no one was injured in the attack. SSP Dharmendra Singh said, “We have identified some people. Some of them are residents of Ghaziabad and the numbers of their cars have been noted. Action against them will be initiated soon.”
Singh further said they will again take up the issue of security with Kejriwal and try to convince him about the need to take security. Kejriwal, however, yet again turned down the security offered to him by Ghaziabad and Delhi Police.