Republic Day violence | For policemen, a near-death experience

Security personnel recount horrors they witnessed at Red Fort

A vandalised police vehicle at the Red Fort on Wednesday, a day after farmers went on the rampage.

For them, Republic Day arrangements had started days in advance and when the parade commenced successfully on Tuesday, they could heave a sigh of relief. But none of the policemen on bandobast duties had imagined what eventually unfolded.

Nursing grave injuries at city hospitals, a bunch of these policemen spoke to The Hindu and recounted what they now call “a near-death experience”.

“We were on duty at the Red Fort when a large group of protesters forcefully entered the premises and went straight to rampart after breaking open the main gate. We tried to remove them but they turned aggressive and attacked the police personnel with swords and sticks. Many received serious head injuries and requested protesters to give way to injured policemen. A protester hit me with a sword on head and my helmet broke into two pieces. I became unconscious and my fingers were seriously injured. We all tried to restrain as we were dealing with farmers. If we had used force, there would have been numerous casualties and loss of lives,” said inspector P.C. Yadav.

Head constable Narendra of Lahori Gate police station got injuries on back after he was pushed in the trenches by a group of protesters. “My shoulder got dislocated and suffered injuries on my back as I was thrown from a height of around 20 feet. We tried to stop protesters entering the Red Fort but were cornered and pushed in the trenches. Protesters tried to snatch our weapons but they failed to succeed,” said Mr. Narendra.

Constable Mohan of Lal of Wazirabad police station, who is undergoing treatment at Trauma Centre at Civil Lines, said he has never seen a mob of this kind in a decade’s service. “A protester tried to ran a tractor over him and he jumped to save his life. I got my right hand fractured. We have been ordered to show maximum restrain and not to open fire at any situation and we followed the orders,” said Mr. Lal.

ASI Pramod Tyagi of Sadar Bazar police station, who is undergoing treatment at Sant Parmanand Hospital, said when he was pushed in the trenches, he got hold of a hanging wire. “I was hanging in the middle but could not hold for long and fell into trenches and got my shoulder dislocated. I saw my colleagues lying on ground and some of them were unconscious. It was like last day of life. Luckily, there was no loss of life on police end,” he said.

Many policemen ran for their lives and took shelter in shanties in the periphery of the Red Fort. Security personnel said that despite being injured they didn’t leave their weapons to get snatched away by the mob.

Senior officers remained at the spot all the time to guide the force. The police successfully convinced them to vacate the Red Fort premises. The protesters also tried to rob the arms and ammunition of the police. Around 60 policemen who were deployed at the Red Fort security got injured in violence.