The Delhi Police on Monday retracted a statement linking the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal to the Jahangirpuri communal violence case, the Deccan Herald reported.
On Saturday, three processions were organised by the Bajrang Dal to commemorate the Hindu festival of Hanuman Jayanti in Jahangirpuri area of North West Delhi. Residents said that people in the processions were armed with swords and tridents, while videos also showed some of them wielding guns and shouting “Jai Shri Ram” slogans. Violence broke out as the third procession passed a mosque.
On Monday, the police said that they had registered a first information report against the organisers for taking out a procession on April 16 evening without taking permission from authorities, according to PTI. The police added that they have arrested a man identified as Prem Sharma, who is a local Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader.
The police statement also named “organisers” from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal for not seeking permission, the Deccan Herald reported.
However, within hours the statement was withdrawn by the police without any reference to the Hindutva outfits. The police said that the Indian Penal Code Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) is a bailable offence and the person who had joined the investigation was let off after questioning.
VHP threatens to start a ‘battle’
Meanwhile, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad warned the police from taking any action against its members in connection with the riots. “The VHP will launch a battle if they try to lodge a false case or pick up any of its activists,” the group’s national spokesperson Vinod Bansal told PTI.
He also dismissed the police statement that the procession during which clashes erupted was held without permission. It seems, he added, that the police had bowed down before “jihadis”.
Bansal said the police have “made a big blunder” by filing FIR against members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal.
The spokesperson also threatened to go to court against the police for allegedly framing members of his group, The Indian Express reported. “We never organise any rally without permission,” he claimed. “This time too, we got permission from the Delhi Police. Someone should ask them why they made security arrangements for our shobha yatra if we did not have permission.”
Sharma also claimed the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had received permission from two Delhi Police stations for the procession.
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