A mob indulged in arson and damaged public property before securing the release of two Asara panchayat members from police custody on Friday.
The police registered a case against 250 people belonging to Asara village in Baghpat district. About 19 of them have been named in the FIR.
Mohkam and Mujahid, who led the Asara panchayat of ‘Chhattis biradari’ (36 communities) that issued the Talibani-style diktat on July 7, were picked up by the Ramala police for questioning late on Thursday. Soon, several hundred people went on the rampage.
The panchayat reportedly issued a diktat banning love marriages and ordering women not to use mobile phones. When the police tried to control the situation, Prahlad Singh, in charge of the Kakripur police outpost, and constable Gauri Shanker were tied to a tree and beaten by the mob, which also torched a police motorcycle and a few other vehicles. The two were let off late on Friday night.
No complaint
A senior police officer said in Lucknow that the police and the Provincial Armed Constabulary had been deployed at Asara and the situation was under control. Inspector-General of Police (Law and Order) Badri Prasad Singh clarified that no complaint about the panchayat’s diktat was made, and the police went to the village on Thursday after being tipped off by “informers.”
Report sought
Minister of State for Women and Child Welfare Aruna Kori has sought a report from the District Magistrate of Baghpat on the diktat. A report has also been sought by the Chairperson of the State Women’s Commission, Anita Singh Verma.
