Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Lawyers agitating for a Bench of the Allahabad High Court in Meerut went on a rampage Wednesday after district magistrate Navdeep Rinwa reportedly caned and abused them and police lathicharged them,injuring at least 10.
The enraged lawyers,in turn,ransacked Rinwas office and laid siege to the house of the commissioner,Manjit Singh,shouting slogans,DM ko Barkhast Karo. Deepak Kumar then invited a delegation of the protesters for talks.
The lawyers claimed they were protesting at the Collectorate when Rinwa came and tried to force the gate open. When the advocates resisted and raised slogans,he took a cane in hand and beat them. Soon,the lawyers said,the police joined in the beating,injuring,among others,the general secretary of the High Court Bench Agitation Committee,Mukesh Wallia.
Denying the allegations,Rinwa said,The lawyers had locked the main gate of the Collectorate when I reached to go to my office. They ransacked my office and damaged the windshields of the cars of an executive engineer and a passer by. There was no use of force against them from my side. If there was any it would have been from the police to maintain law and order.
The lawyers,however,disagreed,We were agitating peacefully. The DM came and started behaving violently and using abusive language. He even accused SP Om Prakash Singh of leading the lawyers, said Wallia. He said,We will continue till our demand for dismissal of DM is accepted.
