Violence and arson spilled over to Delhi and its adjoining areas in Uttar Pradesh on Friday as followers of Guru Ram Rahim set three buses on fire in the
national Captial and cases of sporadic violence were reported from Noida, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, and Baghpat. Five people were arrested for arson in the national Capital.
Reacting swiftly, the Delhi Police has clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 to be in force till September 8. The prohibitory orders have been imposed on Ghaziabad and Noida also.
Considering the gravity of the situation, schools and colleges in Delhi and NCR have been shut down.
Additional DG (law and Order) of Uttar Pradesh Anand Kumar said, “We will take all preventive steps to ensure no spillover effect in UP through strict checking on the inter-State borders and patrolling. No individual or group would be allowed to foment trouble.”
Meanwhile, in Delhi, vigil has been mounted at all the Delhi Metro stations. “We have intensified our vigil and enhanced manpower at Delhi Metro stations. At certain stations that border or fall in neighbouring Haryana and UP, security drills and frisking have been enhanced,” CISF Director General OP Singh said.
He said the force has also “intensified” patrolling by its quick reaction teams in the metro network in order to thwart any untoward activity.
“We are in regular touch with the Delhi Police and the two State police forces and are keeping a close eye on the activities at all the stations,” he said, adding the frisking of passengers has been intensified at a few stations.
However, the Delhi Police claimed that the situation is under control.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed for calm and lieutenant-Governor Baijal reviewed the law and order situation on Friday.
Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik tweeted, “Appeal to all to maintain peace & order. #DelhiPolice on full alert. Strict legal action will be taken against miscreants for any violation.”
Madhur Verma, the Delhi Police’s Public Relations Officer, said a few incidents of buses being torched by some miscreants were reported as violence spread to the national Capital.
“There were, however, no large gatherings of followers of the sect in Delhi yet,” Verma said, adding that adequate security arrangements were in place to deal with any eventuality.
A bus was torched allegedly by Dera followers in North-East Delhi’s loni Chowk. A fire also engulfed two coaches of the Rewa Express stationed at the Anand Vihar Railway Station here. However, Railway officials said it was not immediately clear if it was a case of arson and investigations were underway.
According to the police, some miscreants tried to torch two buses in the Jyoti Nagar-Harsh Vihar area. The buses were partially damaged and no casualties were reported. In the second incident, two DTC buses were reportedly torched near the Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital in Jahangirpuri area. In this incident, no casualties were reported.
In the third incident, unidentified persons attempted to torch a bus in Khyala and two persons were arrested in the incident.
In the fourth incident, unidentified persons tried to torch a bus at Badarpur area. Police confirmed that a seat of the DTC bus caught fire. Meanwhile, one person has been arrested in this case.
“All SHOs , ACPs , DCPs and Jt-CPs are patrolling the area to prevent any kind of incident which may arise due to Ram Rahim followers in Delhi (sic),” tweeted SBK Singh, Special Commissioner of Police law and Order (Northern Range).
Meanwhile, Ghaziabad District Magistrate Ministhy S Nair, while proclaiming the enforcement of preventive measures in the district, said initially the prohibitory measures would be in place for two weeks and the situation would be reviewed later.
“Orders have also been issued to keep all schools and colleges in the district closed tomorrow in view of the violence,” said the Ghaziabad DM.
Prohibitory orders have also been enforced in Gautam Budh Nagar district comprising Noida and Greater Noida. District Magistrate BN Singh said Section 144 was already in place and in view of the developments in the adjoining State, it has been extended.