Tension in East Delhi’s Trilokpuri After Residents Find Dead Cows

Trilokpuri, a resettlement colony consisting of former slum dwellers, has a history of pre-poll communal tension.

Trilokpuri is a locality in New Delhi where around 500 tiny quarters are cramped in 40 blocks each.

(Photo: Shorbori Purkayastha/The Quint)

With four days to go for the Delhi elections, communal tensions were once again taking shape at East Delhi’s Trilokpuri allegedly after two dead cows were found near Sanjay Lake Park on Wednesday, 8 May, morning.

Senior journalist Vinod K Jose, had tweeted around 7.15 am that there was “tension” in the Trilokpuri area. He told The Quint that when he was driving through that area, he saw a swelling crowd. But when he went back after two hours, he saw “around 100 policemen” deployed in the area.

What Went Down

Police were informed by a dairy owner at 6 am on Wednesday that two of his cows were lying dead in Sanjay Jheel Park opposite Kotla village, said a senior police officer.

For lack of enough space, the dairy owner would usually leave his cows in the park where they used to gaze. However, when the dairy owner visited the park in the morning, he found that two of them were missing, police said.

Later, he found the two cows dead in the park following which he informed police, the officer said.

When the police reached the spot, they found that the two cows had been killed while others were safe.

According to the dairy owner's son, "Our neighbour informed us around 5.30 am Wednesday that two cows were lying in the park with severe injuries."

“When we reached the spot, we found the two carcasses. We immediately called police and informed them about the incident.”

Dairy Owner’s Son

The dairy owner's son said his family was in the dairy business for the last 40 years and they had 15 cows. "Nothing like that happened before," he said.

The bodies were sent for autopsy to ascertain the cause of death, the officer said.

A case has been registered under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code against unidentified persons, he said, adding additional security has also been put in place as it is a communally sensitive area.

Taking serious note of the killing of two cows in Trilokpuri, Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) chairman Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan wrote to Delhi Police Commissioner warning him that miscreants may try to use the incident to trigger violence ahead of polls on 12 May in the city.

The DMC chairman asked the police to ensure peace and tranquillity in the area and arrest the criminals involved in the incident.

Why Trilokpuri is Delhi’s Communal Tinderbox

Trilokpuri, a resettlement colony consisting of former slum dwellers in East Delhi, has a history of communal tension. Of all the 2,700 Sikhs killed in the 1984 riots, 350 hailed from this locality. Years later, for the people of Trilokpuri, living in a state of strife continued when, in 2014, a small fight near a makeshift temple snowballed into communal riots leaving at least 50 people injured and resulting in a week-long curfew.

The year 2014 was a landmark year because since then, even as life in Trilokpuri restored normalcy, a latent tension continues to simmer.

Seemingly, small incidents shape-shifted to larger threats. In April 2015, a parking dispute turned into a Hindu-Muslim clash and police presence became a permanent part of the landscape.

(With inputs from PTI)