As many as 29 persons were arrested for vandalism and pelting stones on both civilians and police personnel in north-west Delhi's Ashok Vihar, officers said on Thursday.
The incident took place on Wednesday night; it started over a scuffle between a group of “drug addicts” and slum dwellers. Several persons blocked traffic, the police said, adding that police vehicles were also damaged by the crowd of nearly 180 people.
According to DCP (North West) Usha Rangnani, on Wednesday, a patrolling team present at the Wazirpur Industrial Area spotted a gathering of local residents of Shalimar Bagh’s AO Block near Prem Bari Bus Stand around 10:30 p.m. Meanwhile, a PCR call was received at the Shalimar Bagh police station regarding a traffic jam by local residents.
When a team rushed to the spot, they found out that one Santosh, 23, a resident of the same block, had got into a quarrel with around three “drug addicts” standing near Prem Badi bus stand, the DCP said, adding, “He (Santosh) called the residents from the jhuggi who started blocking the traffic,” the DCP said.
“The police tried to pacify the crowd, which was around 150 to 180 in number, but they started to disrupt the flow of traffic and sat down on the road,” Ms. Rangnani said.
According to police, when they started removing the people from the road, some persons resorted to stone pelting and throwing bottles at passersby and police personnel. They also tried to burn a motorbike but the fire was immediately doused by the police.
“They also broke the glasses of 3 to 4 police vehicles,” the DCP said.
The situation was brought under control and the crowd was dispersed after the police resorted to “mild lathi charge”. Ms. Rangnani said that during the incident, Santosh and eight police personnel got injured. All the injured persons have been discharged from the hospital after treatment.
The crime team was called to the spot and a case under IPC sections pertaining to vandalism and rioting was lodged, in addition to Sections 3 and 4 of the Damage to Public Property Act.
