Trilokpuri riots: Police say opened fire, but in self-defense

Five people, including two teens, received bullet injuries in the communal clash in Trilokpuri in east Delhi last week. Delhi Police claims their bullets did not cause the injuries and an FIR filed by the police clearly mentions that they fired in "self defence".

A copy of the Delhi Police First Information Report (FIR) which is with IANS says that a inspector who was surrounded by an angry mob Oct 24 night in Block 27 of

Trilokpuri fired with his service revolver after he was pelted with stones and also beaten by miscreants.

The officer had gone to the site after receiving a call about stone pelting in the area at 8.27 p.m.

"Inspector Dheeraj Kumar was hit by a heavy stone on his head by a miscreant and some people tried to snatch his service revolver. In self defense he opened

fire...," says the FIR, which was registered late evening Oct 24.

"To save Dheeraj Kumar from the angry crowd, constable Dharmendra opened fire twice from his service revolver in the air," the FIR added.

The families of the two teenagers who are in hospital being treated for bullet injuries claim that the two boys were wounded in police firing. But police officers

deny this and say the injuries are caused by firing in a communal clash.

The working class congested area of Trilokpuri has been tense since Diwali night Oct 23 when clashes broke out between Hindu and Muslims over a petty issue, leaving 70 injured, including 56 policemen.

Delhi Police have FIRs on Oct 23, Oct 24 and Oct 25 on the riots at Trilokpuri, where prohibitory orders have been imposed for the past five days.

So far, 67 people have been arrested in connection with the case.

The Diwali night (Oct 23) FIR was registered soon after a stone pelting incident in Block 20. It says: "The police officials after reaching the spot found that clashes had broken out between the two communities after someone burst a Diwali firecracker bomb in someone else's house."

Police found the streets littered with stones and smashed glass bottles. Five cars and two ATMS were also damaged.

"After arriving at the spot, the police team did not find any eyewitnesses to the riots," the FIR said.

Police arrested two people, identified as Mohd. Ahad, 19 and Dilshad, 20 from the area and collected some of the riot debris lying on the road.

The third FIR was registered on Oct 25 after a clash at Block 27 and it says that some people among the mob were carrying firearms. The police have also got mobile

video clips of people carrying firearms during the clash.

"The video clips clearly show some people carrying pistols. This disproves the people's claim that the five people were injured due to police firing," a senior police officer told IANS.

(Alok Singh can be contacted at alok.s@ians.in)