The Nashik police on Thursday arrested 18 Army jawans in connection with Wednesday’s act of vandalism at the Upnagar police station, even as the Army joined the police in the investigations into the incident and announced that it would initiate an “exemplary action” against all those involved in the incident. The police formally arrested 18 Army jawans from the premises of School of Artillery at Devlali Camp in the morning and produced before a local magistrate’s court, which remanded them in judicial custody. However, the arrest Army jawans later in the afternoon moved the same court, which granted them bail.
Meanwhile, taking serious cognizance of Tuesday’s altercation between Army officer and the Nashik police, and an act of vandalism indulged in by a group of Jawans at the Upnagar police station on Wednesday. “Police officials and the authorities at School of Artillery at Devlali Camp have initiated investigations to go into the details of the incident. The Army and police are working closely in this case and all help is being extended by the School of Artillery in the ongoing investigations,” a defence spokesperson sated on Thursday, a Pune-based Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson stated here on Thursday.
More than 50 Army jawans had on Wednesday vandalised the Upanagar police station at Nashik in north Maharashtra and attacked several of the police personnel there, injuring three of them in protest against the “unjustified” detention of a fellow Army officer on Tuesday. The act of vandalism had been sparked by an altercation between an Army officer and local police personnel over the parking of his vehicle belonging to the officer concerned. The Army officer concerned had gone to the police station to lodge a complaint with them.
The police personnel told the Army officer concerned not to park his vehicle outside the police station, but instead do so at a nearby place. However, the Army officer refused and there erupted a fierce argument between him and the police personnel. The police booked Army officer concerned under Section 353 of IPC (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging his duty) and detained for several hours before releasing him late on Tuesday night.
The police arrested six Army Jawans – all of whom students of the School of Artillery at Devlali Camp –and booked them for rioting in connection with Wednesday’s act of vandalism in which an irate group of jawans broke furniture and equipment, attacked some police personnel present and locked up a woman constable up who resisted the vandals.
Seeking a remand of the 18 arrested jawans, the Nashik police claimed in the local court that as many as 80 Army jawans – who indulged in violence in and outside Upnagar police station had come in motorbikes. Police have claimed in the court that 80 persons – two in each motorcycle came to the police station – which means there were around 160 Army personnel involved in the violence
Reacting to the twin incidents, Pune-based MoD spokesperson Mahesh Iyengar stated: “It has been reported that there has been a case of alleged altercation at Nashik, between police and some officers undergoing training at the School of Arty, Deolali. The incident took place in the afternoon of January 14 2015 at Upnagar Police Station at Nashik”.