Tension prevailed in the highly sensitive “walled city” area of the national Capital after clashes erupted between two groups belonging to different communities over parking issues. It soon took an ugly turn after rumours spread that a youth from a particular community has been lynched by a mob. Enraged over this, a mob vandalised a Shiva Temple in the Lal Kuan area after raising inflammatory religious slogans.
As tempers ran high over the desecration of a Hindu temple, people from both the communities were seen chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Allah Hu Akbar'. Delhi Police top brass moved swiftly and additional forces were deployed in the area to prevent any collateral damage. A strong posse of armed police personnel is stationed in and around the area as the senior police officers of Delhi Police tried to assuage the feelings by reaching out to the respectables of the two communities.
Taking to twitter, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), Mandeep Singh Randhawa urged people to help them in restoring normalcy in the area.
"After some altercation & scuffle over a parking issue in Hauz Qazi, tension arose b/w two groups of people from different communities. We have taken legal action & all efforts are being made to pacify feelings & bring about amity. People are requested to help in restoring normalcy (sic)," the DCP tweeted.
A video surfaced online which purportedly showed a man allegedly being beaten up by some people, who were suspected to be drunk, over a parking issue.
According to a senior police official, the incident occurred at around 10 PM on Sunday and the quarrel turned ugly when members of both the communities started clashing with each other.
A resident of the area, Babita Gupta said her husband Sanjeev Gupta runs an eatery stall outside the building. "Last night at around 10 pm, a man came there and parked his scooter next to Sanjeev's stall. When my husband objected and asked him to remove the vehicle, the man went inside a street and called some people who started beating him." she said.
However, some of the residents of Lal Kuan said Sanjeev, along with others, thrashed the person who parked his scooter there.
"When Aas Mohammad (20) had parked his scooter near the house of Sanjeev on Sunday night, Sanjeev asked him park it somewhere else or he will set the vehicle on fire. Thereafter, a quarrel erupted and Sanjeev, along with some other person, pulled Mohammad inside the building and beat him up," said Aqib Hassan (25), who lives in the same locality. Shakeeb, a 27-year-old software engineer who works in the Kirti Nagar area, said that when Mohammad was thrashed, he and his other family members went to police station and filed a case.
"When Mohammad and Sanjeev were present at the police station, some unknown people gathered outside the temple and vandalised it, following which the tension prevailed in the area," said Shakeeb. After the incident, Babita, her mother-in-law and three children were shifted to another place in the same area for the overnight.
Anil Kumar Pandey, the priest of the temple said that a mob came to the temple last night at around 12 am when I was having dinner. "They vandalised the temple and left the place," he said
Police said they are scanning the CCTV footage to identify the vandals and have tightened security in the area to ensure no untoward incident happens. People from both the sides said that the locals want peace in the area. "Some outsiders came here and they are trying to fan communal tension in the area," said a resident.
Meanwhile, residents also alleged that the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Hauz Quazi police station did not acted timely. "If he could have acted on time, the communal tension in the area could have be averted," said a resident.
Earlier, a photo journalist was also attacked and beaten by the crowd on Monday afternoon. He was rushed to nearby hospital where he was discharged after treatment.
When asked about the development in the aftermath of the communal tension, senior police officials said that situation has been brought under control and talks are being held with the elders of the society to help control the situation and restore peace in the area.