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“Ka**on ko, Mullo ko nibta do” or “Get rid of the Muslims” - these were the orders conveyed by BJP councillor Kanhaiya Lal during the communal violence in Northeast Delhi’s Bhagirathi Vihar, as claimed by a resident of the area in a complaint to the Delhi Police.
These are one of the several complaints The Quint has gained access to, as part of its investigation on the Northeast Delhi Riots that took place in the last week of February this year.
These are complaints filed by local residents who claim to have witnessed acts of violence, often by prominent local politicians.
The Quint has already reported on how the Delhi Police’s charge sheets have omitted Kapil Mishra’s name as well as an eyewitness account of how Ragini Tiwari allegedly fired bullets and incited the mob.
As part of this series, we have now accessed a detailed complaint by a Bhagirathi Vihar resident on the alleged role of Kanhaiya Lal, BJP councillor from Johripur in the East Delhi Municipal Corporation, during the riots.
The complaint was filed at the Gokulpuri Police Station on 11 March.
The complainant begins his account narrating what he saw at Gali Number 1/3 in Bhagirathi Vihar, on 24 February, the first day of the violence.
“On 24.02.2020, I was at my home. At around 8-9 at night, I heard a great deal of noise and commotion and came down from my home. Then I saw that towards Shiv Mandir, Pal Chowk, around 100-150 people were coming chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’, ‘Ka**o ko sabak sikhao’ (teach a lesson to Muslims) ‘Aag lagao (set the fire)‘ ‘Maaro (kill)’”.
According to the complainant, "the mob was carrying swords, trishuls, large axes and pistols”.
The complainant recalls that the residents of their street stood guard all night to protect their homes.
“On 25.02.2020 at around 6 PM I was at my Gali when Yogendra jeanswala and Kanhaiya Lal (councillor) brought the mob of 100-150 people from three sides - from Pal Chowk, 20 Foot Gali Number One 1/3 Gali that comes from Pal Chowk, and from the side of the Naali,” the complainant alleges.
According to the complainant, the mob was carrying swords, spears, trishuls, petrol bombs kept inside a black bag and they gathered around the area’s Masjid, chanting "Jai Shri Ram", "Kapil Mishra Zindabad", "Jagdish Pradhan Zindabad".
“Then Kaale son of Shiv Charan and Mohit began firing from their pistols” . The mob began pelting stones and throwing petrol bombs,” the complainant alleges.
Fearing the stones and petrol bombs, the complainant said that he rushed to the roof of his house. From there he claims seeing 25-30 people gathered on the roof of one Jaggi, pelting stones and throwing petrol bombs.
The mosque in the area had caught fire.
The complainant claims that he recognised some of the locals who were pelting stones and throwing petrol bombs from the roof and he has mentioned them in his complaint.
The complainant alleges the police threatened locals not to complain about specific incidents else “they will be booked under fake cases”. .
The Quint reached out to Kanhaiya Lal through phone as well as messages but there has been no response. The story shall be updated when he responds.
Just to reiterate, we have withheld the name of the person who has written the statement for safety reasons but we would be willing to share the entire signed statement with the police if called upon to do so.
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Published: 22 Jun 2020,07:53 PM IST