Tension gripped Mukherjee Nagar when a Gramin Sewa vehicle driver attacked a policeman with a sword after an argument with a PCR personnel when his shared vehicle grazed past the police van. This was followed by members of the Sikh community protesting outside the Mukherjee Nagar police station against alleged excesses.

Police said the incident took place on Sunday evening. According to them, the Gramin Sewa vehicle grazed past a parked police van outside the police station.

The police said the driver and his juvenile associates, both from the Sikh community started arguing with a PCR personnel on the spot. They added that the argument escalated, the man drew a sword and the personnel asked for backup.

According to the police, the man then tried to attack the dozen or so policemen who came out to back up their colleague with his colleague, while his associate allegedly attempted to flee in the Gramin Sewa vehicle and, in the process, ran the vehicle over a policeman’s leg. He was later detained by the police. One of the policemen suffered a deep cut in the head after being allegedly attacked with the sword.

The entire incident was captured on video shot by a mobile phone and circulated on social media.

The video, which allegedly showed the man attacking the policemen with a sword and the policemen beating both him and the boy with sticks and dragged them on the road, went viral and sparked tension among the Sikh community and its leaders. Hundreds of them gathered outside the police station and staged a protest, demanding action against the policemen for allegedly attacking, kicking and dragging Sikh men on the road and desecrating their turbans.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s legislator from Delhi’s Rajouri Garden, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, tweeted the footage and urged people to join him in the protest outside the police station. “Sitting outside Mukherjee Nagar Police Station for justice. Those @DelhiPolice officials should be rusticated right away! Join us in our Dharna (sic),” he tweeted.

The Delhi Police issued a statement that said, “The alleged incident followed an accident caused by a Gramin Sewa tempo to a police vehicle. Thereafter, a police officer was also assaulted on the head by the tempo driver with a sword. Further, the tempo was driven dangerously and caused injuries to a policeman in the leg.”

The police statement said the matter is being enquired into by the additional deputy commissioner of police (northwest).

First Published: Jun 17, 2019 01:50 IST