Jahangirpuri SHO removed, weeks after violence

A Rohini court, in an order on May 7, had noted that there was “utter failure” on the part of Delhi Police in stopping a Hanuman Jayanti procession held without permission at Jahangirpuri in northwest Delhi last month and the issue “seems to have been simply brushed aside” by senior officers. The police personnel “accompanied the illegal procession” and their complicity, “if any”, needs to be investigated, the court said.

Communal clashes broke out in the area on April 16.

“The liability on the part of the officials concerned needs to be fixed so that in future no such incident takes place and police is not complacent in preventing the illegal activities,” Additional Sessions Judge Gagandeep Singh had said in the order.

The court further said the contents of the FIR itself show that the local staff of the police station in Jahangirpuri, led by Inspector Rajiv Ranjan, as well as other officials were “accompanying the said illegal procession” on its route instead of stopping it.

“It appears that local police, instead of performing their duty in stopping the said illegal procession in the beginning itself and dispersing the crowd, was accompanying them to the entire route which later on led to unfortunate riots between the two communities,” said ASJ Singh.