JOIN USCops beaten up, vehicles vandalised
Several police personnel were injured and about half-a-dozen police vehicles were vandalised in outer Delhi’s Narela on Sunday night by locals who accused them of shielding some people whom they accused of running a sex racket in the area.
The station house officer (SHO) of Narela Ghulam Shabbir was among the injured policemen. He suffered a fracture in his arm. The condition of all the policemen are said to be out of danger. Police said the situation was under control on Monday.
Six held
Six persons, including a boy, have been held for the attack and vandalism. They have been charged with rioting, causing damage to public property and obstructing a public servant from discharging his duty, a senior police officer told Deccan Herald.
Police are investigating the allegations of a sex racket being run in the area under protection from local police.
Police at Narela had received a call from Narela’s Sector A10 at 9.30 pm on Sunday about a quarrel between two groups. Police reached the spot to find a crowd gathered outside a house.
They accused a woman tenant of running a prostitution racket in the house.
“There were three men and three women inside the house. The women claimed to be each other’s relatives while the men said they were family friends,” the officer said.
They told police they had gathered there to meet on a weekend. None of the women claimed that they were forced into prostitution, police said.
“We decided to take the six persons to police station for questioning. But a section of the crowd outside turned aggressive and demanded that they be allowed inside the house,” the officer said.
Police took the six to Narela police station, but the crowd followed them, alleging that they were hand-in-gloves with the suspects. More people soon joined them as word of police’s alleged connivance with the suspects spread.
The locals then began pelting stones while some of them attacked police with sticks. Police control room vans and the SHO’s jeep were among the vehicles damaged in the attack.
Reinforcements
A total of 10 policemen were injured. Only after reinforcements from nearby police stations arrived that the situation was brought under control.