Street justice at India Gate

A drunk man was thrashed and shooed away several times by security personnel near Amar Jawan Jyoti for hurling abuses at the defence forces. He was finally handed over to police

So is it a choice between 'no justice' and 'street justice' in India? Sample this. On the occasion of the third anniversary of the serial blasts in Delhi in 2008, a man in inebriated condition created ruckus at India Gate by hurling abuses and shouting inappropriate slogans against defence personnel, and also tried to reach the Amar Jawan Jyoti. The man was beaten up by security officials and handed over to Delhi police.


Arm-twisting: Defence personnel at Amar Jawan Jyoti thrashing the
man near India Gate on Tuesday. Pic/Arjun Panwar

Quite a scare
MiD DAY contacted officials at Tilak Marg Police Station regarding the incident, who told this reporter that they had received no information, else they would have taken action against the man. The defence personnel posted for security of Amar Jawan Jyoti and policemen deployed at India Gate went into a tizzy when, at around 4 pm yesterday, the accused reached the spot and walked close to the Amar Jawan Jyoti. Before the security personnel could understand what he was up to, the man started shouting abuses against the defence forces.




The miscreant being thrashed by defence personnel and cops near
India Gate on Tuesday. Pics/Arjun Panwar
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Whipping boy!
"He was nabbed and given a sound thrashing for creating chaos at India Gate," said a police official wishing anonymity. The man then ran away from the spot. He returned in five minutes. This time he clashed with the security officials. He was again beaten up. The officials then handed him over to Delhi police personnel on duty nearby. The cops also thrashed the man and made him kneel down for some time. He was then officially handed over to local cops.

Additional Commissioner of Police (PCR) GC Dwivedi called up this reporter and confirmed the incident. He said, "A drunken man was nabbed by PCR personnel and handed over to local police from India Gate." DCP (New Delhi district) KC Dwivedi was contacted by this reporter but he was not available for comments.

Day high on security
On the third anniversary of the serial blasts in Delhi, the Capital was put under high security on Tuesday. The blast had claimed 26 lives. Meanwhile, authorities had also received an email threat warning of attacks at shopping malls yesterday. According to Delhi Police, over 20,000 armed personnel were deployed in the city, who carried out regular searches in the wake of heightened threat perception. "We took all precautionary measures in view of the email. Patrolling and frisking of people were carried out across the city," said a senior police official.