Outside police station where arrested men were taken, families-BJP members face off

Family members of the detained men had been waiting outside the police station for information and to try to meet them. Among them was the family of Sheikh Saurabh, who was arrested on Sunday evening. “He was sleeping at home when police came and picked him up around 3.50 pm. He sells fish. He had come home from work and was sleeping when all the ladai-jhagda started (on Saturday)…,” claimed Nazia (32), his sister.

Around 4.10 pm, BJP leader Jai Bhagwan Goyal arrived outside the police station. Speaking to the media, he said: “These are those same people who protested against CAA and NRC, these are those people who used to go to Shaheen Bagh and Yamuna paar and had done morchas here as well against CAA and NRC. Today they are carrying out a conspiracy to ruin the atmosphere in Delhi… Woh laato ke bhoot hai, woh baato se nahi maante. We would like to request our Home Minister that the way Yogi baba set off the bulldozer in UP, the way mama set off the bulldozers in Madhya Pradesh, wherever Rohingyas and Bangladeshis are squatting illegally, bulldozers be set off there and all the rashtravirodhi, deshvirodhi powers be given a strong response.”

The crowd of BJP workers began raising ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans, and the women grew more agitated and started shouting slogans of ‘Allahu Akbar’ back at them.

“Why have they come here? Nobody from their families have been picked up. We are here because men in our families were picked up by police from our homes. These people are only here to create a ruckus and trouble us,” said Ajmera, a relative of Imtiyaz (29), who she said was picked up from home by police at 7 am.

The sloganeering back and forth continued intermittently for around half an hour, until the women left to return home.

Jahangirpuri also saw small protests by some locals, who alleged police action had been “selective”. During the day, several women gathered at the C block gate and raised slogans against the Delhi Police.

Nagma, who sells fruits and vegetables, said she was seeing such a flare up for the first time in 25 years. “This area may have Muslims in majority but many Hindu families live here too. The mandir and masjid are located close to each other. We celebrate Durga Puja, Ganesh Chaturthi and Eid together,” she said.

Reena, a class XII student, said: “I am the only Muslim in my friend circle and all my school friends called me to ask whether I am okay or not.”

Among the arrested accused were Suresh, Suken, Neeraj, Suraj and Sujeet Sarkar — all from the same family residing in Jahangirpuri’s G Block. The family said they were part of the Hanuman Jayanti procession, for which preparations were being made for the last three-four days.

The family insisted the men had been picked up only because they were present at the spot. “Police came and picked all of them… they were not at fault. We hope they come back home soon,” said Meenu, Sujeet’s wife.