MG Road in Camp was a scene of utter mayhem late last night as police officials put a stop to a candlelight march organised by a group of youngsters demanding justice for Noida murder victim Aarushi Talwar
MG Road in Camp was a scene of utter mayhem late last night as police officials put a stop to a candlelight march organised by a group of youngsters demanding justice for Noida murder victim Aarushi Talwar.
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| Seeking justice for Aarushi: Rally participants light candles as they demand justice for Noida murder victim Aarushi Talwar. Pic/Abid Hasan |
Around 700 people, most of them college students, had turned up for the candlelight march around 7.30 pm, throwing traffic out of gear in the busy shopping district. There were long lines of cars on the road.
Students said they were bundled into police vans, their cameras were snatched and they were harassed in various ways, such as being asked to show their college identity cards.
The students had pasted Aarushi Talwar's photograph on a wall, lit candles below it and started shouting slogans asking for justice. This went on for about an hour-and-half, during which time the traffic built up.
Around 9.15 pm, some 20 police officials, including two senior officers, arrived at the spot and asked the crowd to disperse, stating that they were holding up the traffic.
Senior Police Inspector Sushma Chavan from Lashkar police station said that the group of demonstrators had not informed the police or taken any formal permission for the march.
"The traffic build-up was terrible and this could even have led to accidents. This is not legally permitted and that's why we had to come in," she said.
People who had gathered for the march and resisted police action were forcibly put into police vans. A few people alleged that the police even snatched their cameras and asked them for their college identity cards.
"The police snatched my camera, saying I didn't have permission to click pictures," said one of the girls present, requesting anonymity. "They also wanted my college identity card, saying I was doing something illegal."
Ruksheen, another girl present at the scene, said that instead of breaking up the group the police could have done better by co-operating and keeping a watchful eye.
"Maybe they were bound by duty and that's why they took this action. But we weren't creating a ruckus as claimed," she said.
