Pelted with stones, Haryana cops fire in air to escape mob fury in Panipat

Manvir Saini | TNN | Apr 24, 2020, 14:33 IST

Representative image

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Police personnel on duty with PCR vans came under attack late on Thursday night when they went to check lockdown violations in a Muslim-dominated colony under Chandni Bagh police station of Panipat. A mob of men and women pelted stones on them, forcing police to fire a few rounds in the air to disperse the crowd.
More than 100 persons have been booked in a case registered at Chandni Bagh police station, No arrests have been made so far.
Police said the incident took place when teams of Panipat CIA staff were on routine patrolling to check the lockdown violations. Late in the evening, they got information that a group of was playing cards in an open ground behind the petrol pump in Panipat Sector 11/12 road.
Following the information, police teams went to towards Sector 11's Gaus Ali Mohalla, a densely populated old colony.
CIA staff in charge inspector Rajppal Singh, who was leading the team and has filed the complaint in the case, said they found people sitting in groups in one of the lanes of the locality. As police teams started approaching them, they went inside their homes.
As inspector Singh tried to explain the importance of social distancing to some of the people peaking out of their homes, a group of men and women started assembling on the street, while others climbed on the rooftops. Soon, they started pelting stones and bricks at the police team to make them leave the area.
To save themselves from the sudden onslaught, the team fired a few rounds in the air. Inspector Singh said after dispersing the mob and controlling the situation, they found a youth, identified as Shahbaz, lying injured. Police have not clarified whether he was injured in firing or in an effort to get away when the crowd started dispersing fast.
A police spokesperson said, "Injured is admitted in the Panipat Civil Hospital. The process to identify those indulged in stone-pelting has begun. The lane has been sealed and an additional police deployment has been made."