150 women with sticks, beer bottles smashed: How liquor shop protest in UP’s Pilibhit turned violent
Police said the Tehsildar sustained injuries; residents claimed several women were injured in a lathicharge. Police booked 45 people on charges of rioting, attempt to murder.
Women protesters at the hospital, some of them sustained injuries. (Express) Chaos erupted in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit on Thursday when around 150 women armed with sticks barged into a liquor shop, hurled liquor bottles and beer cans onto the road, and smashed them in protest against the opening of two alcohol outlets in their village.
When teams from the district administration, police and excise department reached Boondibhood village to calm the protesters and facilitate the opening of the shops, violent clashes broke out.
Police claimed protesters attacked government officials with sticks and pelted them with stones. Tehsildar Virendra Kumar Singh and other officials were injured in the violence, while three government vehicles, including a bus, were damaged.
Screengrabs from a video of the protest show the women smashing bottles while police try to stop them. (Express)
But locals alleged that women too were injured after police and administrative officials resorted to lathi-charge, and that they are undergoing treatment at a hospital. Villagers claimed that after witnessing the assault on women, the men stepped in and protested against the action by officials.
Police said an FIR has been lodged against 45 residents, including 30 women and 15 unidentified persons, at Madhav Tanda police station on charges of rioting, attempt to murder, voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter public servant from his duty, and mischief. The complaint was filed by Inspector, Excise, Deepak Kumar.
Circle Officer, Pilibhit, Prateek Dahiya, said no arrest has been made in the case. He said initially, around 100-150 women were protesting before other villagers joined. He also denied allegations that force was used to disperse the crowd.
Dahiya said information was received that a few villagers may have sustained injuries, but no complaint has been filed so far in this regard.
The village, with a population of around 3,000, is about 200 metres from the Indo-Nepal border. Most residents belong to Backward and Scheduled Caste communities and are primarily engaged in farming.
According to police, two outlets — a country liquor shop and a composite liquor shop — were allotted in Boondibhood village last month to two people, who had identified separate premises for operating them. Since the allotment, police said villagers have been up in arms despite visits by the administration to persuade them.
Former village pradhan Chandradeep Rajbhar said they feared the shops, if opened, would create a drinking problem.
“The shops have also been set up at a crossing which children and women regularly pass while going to the market. Temples and schools are also located nearby. Officials were forcibly trying to open the liquor shop yesterday despite the protest,” he alleged.
He added that only a few people in the village currently consume liquor.
Sunil Kumar Rajbhar, a resident, said, “Villagers fear that once the liquor shops open, people who are not addicted may also start consuming alcohol. We are also concerned that the village’s peace and social environment will be disturbed.”
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